The Springboks are faced with a healthy problem when it comes to reconfiguring their playmaking cockpit

For a side that has long relied on pressure cooker converters and a Panzer pack, the Springboks of 2024 have unleashed a new spark of life with Tony Brown.

While in the past the expansive button and forward pods have been occasionally deployed, the emphasis was always on box kicks, killer spirals, and crossfield bombs.

Now, rather than using their attacking game as a set-up for kicking, the tables are turned as the South Africans have evolved their game to be more dynamic, flitting between developing their attacking sequences and pinning their opponents backwards.

This has brought new opportunities to shine for many of their scintillating attackers Jesse Kriel and Aphelele Fassi have stood out over the course of the Rugby Championship, excelling within this new system.

However, the recent loss to Argentina and the misfiring during a 31-27 game against the rebuilding All Blacks highlighted several holes riddling the system that may devolve into an unstable attack in the long run.

Their new attacking system has adapted an occasional number 10/12 tandem which is anything but a Ford-Farrell 2.0.

The 12 has much less five-eighth duty and more anchoring around the positional role of an inside centre.

Even with the entrance of Handre Pollard at no. 23 in the second All Blacks Test, his role was much grounded in inside centre duties.

Pollard served the role of an extra ruck clearance and tackler in defence, leaving all kicking and play-calling duties to the flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

However, such a role often sees a pass-first attitude, and we have witnessed cases of trigger-happy usage of their midfield’s passing range.

However, this new system has freed the likes of Aphelele Fassi to operate in a flashier playmaking role, joining the outside centre in making breaks and grubbers to free up his wings or become the main cannon himself.

Kriel and Fassi have been enabled by this new system to upgrade their play utility, creating selection headaches.

Fullbacks and outside centers have merged roles, as the spark of the backline with a tandem of 10 and 12 to manage playmaking duties when needed.

However, Lukhanyo Am has filtered in as a distributor and facilitator during the Argentina game, filling the gap left by the absence of Wille Le Roux when experimenting with fresher, younger, faster players.

This has seen Pollard bouncing out to pull the trigger in wider areas.

Such a system fires when functioning, with a world-class set-piece attack that has been refined and sharpened.

The opting for Fassi over Le Roux creates a bigger midfield threat to run off the bullet passes of Pollard, such as in this case against Argentina.

This is an ideal shape, a stretched pod off a lineout maul, a wide-hitting pass from the scrumhalf creates an isolation for Pollard using the looping winger to hold the defenders into his channel.

The compounded threat of both centres in the first layer provides an attacking umbrella.

The carry threat of Damian De Allende and the hard-line threat from Kriel draw in defenders and thins the midfield coverage.

This allows him to hit the 13 channel with a brilliant flat ball to send his fullback through for an opening try.

Such a model uses a composed quarterback at 10 to weave together the three threats at 12, 13, and 15.

The flyhalf conundrum

However, such a similar shape is not as stable with the lack of a Pollard/Le Roux style experienced playmaker as a pivot.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has dazzled since his entrance into Test rugby and is already turning into one of the big stars of the Springboks.

Some may carry the sentiment, rightly so that he will be the South African Dan Carter, a figurehead flyhalf and an emblem of effusive attacking with a complete triple threat skillset.

It must be noted, that despite all his merits, his stability in between layers of attack (as demonstrated in Fassi’s try above) is still a work in progress.

This is a slightly different set-up, a typical pullback contraption where the Boks prefer to take the hardline option after overloading the defence.

The timing of his passing is still offkey, often either early before squaring up to fix the defenders or too late and resulting in knock-ons as above.

The prodigy still lacks the composed physicality of Pollard to play this knockdown pivot role.

Thus, the Boks have come full circle with their veteran general Pollard. Where in the past he had Le Roux as a foxy foil to compensate for his kicking but unleashing the attack, Pollard has assumed the stabilizer role that Le Roux once played for him.

Pollard now acts as an extra creator in the midfield, ensuring the effervescent continuity of expansive attacking sequences.

Pollard is the new Le Roux to Sacha’s budding star, much like Pollard was in 2014/2015-bursting onto the scene with speed, vision, and killer instincts.

This proved highly effective in the second half of the second Test against the All Blacks.

His deployment off the bench at 12 somewhat replicates the crash-ball of De Allende to a heavily discounted extent, buffers up the midfield defence in the 10/12 channel, and provides an ice-cold lieutenant in spreading the ball.

Despite teasing that Pollard could take up a role at 12, it is more likely that Pollard comes off the bench as a utility player who can cover 10/12 and provide a variety of different roles in the case that Sacha starts.

Many may argue that De Allende is even better suited to such a combined role with greater physicality and an array of passes.

The physical umbrella of a big 12 can create special opportunities for an agile and explosive 10 running on the inside or out the back.

As seen above, the inside pass has proven to be devastating against a set-piece defence, making their attack more precise and direct.

Thus, with the new sets of plays that can be unleashed with an explosive franchise flyhalf in the form of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the Boks are faced with a healthy problem of reconfiguring their playmaking cockpit.

Do they take the English path, with a 10/12 combination of Sacha and Pollard giving them the best of both worlds, while keeping their running threats in the wider midfield with Kriel and Fassi at their disposal?

Integrating their traditional threat De Allende would delegate greater playmaking duties to the backfield, for Le Roux and requires a stepped-up creative capacity for Fassi.

This allows Feinberg-Mngomezulu to operate deeper and wider, often from second or third receiver, often in the 13 channel where he can make lightning plays.

Regardless, the revitalized results of the Rugby Championships indicate that the days of Pollard/Le Roux are coming to an end, as in the past both have shown overlapping utilities despite both being fantastic players.

The presence of a stable and explosive figure at 10/13/15 in the youngster Feinberg-Mngomezulu has shaken up the status quo.

The ability to execute the meatgrinder kicking game and maintain explosive running rugby has distinguished Sacha from the rest, staking a strong claim to a starting spot.

However, the transition to a more fluid, dynamic and independent system under Brown makes one wonder if the old generals should steady the ship in the short term, serving as an anchor of old in the storm.