Tony Brown hailed Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel after the midfield maestros’ influential performance in the first Test against Ireland.
Brown made a particular note of De Allende’s underappreciated passing game during a press conference in uMhlanga on Monday.
De Allende and Kriel made their 29th appearance as a combination in the win at Loftus Versfeld, equalling the Bok record held by Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.
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Kriel was named man of the match for a performance that saw him make 77 metres and seven tackles.
While De Allende’s power to get the Springboks over the gainline has become something applauded by fans, Brown said he felt the inside centre’s passing perhaps goes unnoticed.
“Damian is extremely physical in contact and can give you a lot of momentum, but one thing you don’t know about him is that he is the best passer in the Bok team,” Brown said.
“I want to unlock that, all those skills and abilities, and push him and Jesse Kriel to become even better than they are.
“Jesse works extremely hard and wants to improve in every facet of his game. He works really hard on his offensive game and I think we’ve seen a lot of examples where he’s showing up on offense.”
Brown, who took over as the team’s attack coach this season following the departure of Felix Jones to England after the RWC in France last year, signalled out execution as one of the main areas the Springboks can improve on in the series decider in Durban on Saturday.
“There were some really good signs with the way we spread the ball wide early on, but we need to be more clinical in the next game,” Brown said.
“We had a few chances, but we didn’t execute as well as we would have liked to, so that is one of the things we need to improve on this week. That said, the more the guys play, the better they will be, so hopefully that will get improve with time.”
While the Springboks showed new plans on attack, it was the set piece that proved the difference in the first Test, with a 78th-minute penalty try winning it for the hosts.
“I don’t think I have ever seen such a strong scrum as the one that resulted in the penalty try,” Brown said.
“In my coaching days with Japan it was a case of getting the ball out of the scrum as quickly as possible and then getting around teams.
“It’s very nice to coach a South African team where the set pieces are of such high standard. You can do a lot of good things on a rugby field with momentum on your side.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The post Brown: Doogz the Boks’ best passer appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
