'These Springboks are different' - Quade Cooper's take on world ...

Former Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper has revealed that he’s pleasantly surprised by how South Africa’s game-plan has evolved recently and said it’s not a new development.

For several years, the Springboks have earned a reputation for their pragmatic approach to the game in which they usually employ a low-risk game plan – where they kick for territory and keep the ball mostly amongst their forwards.

That style of play has paid dividends under the guidance of Rassie Erasmus as the Springboks have won back-to-back Rugby World Cups in 2019 and 2023 as well as a 2-1 series victory over the British and Irish Lions in 2021.

However, the world champions have earned plenty of praise recently as they have a new attacking coach in former All Blacks fly-half Tony Brown and the Boks have embraced his philosophy where a more expansive style of play is encouraged.

Cooper, who made his last Wallabies appearance in the 2023 Rugby Championship, is a big fan of the Boks’ new approach but revealed that he noticed the difference in their style of play during last year’s Rugby Championship already.

“Well, honestly, I think it already started prior to the new coaches,” he told the Behind the Ruck podcast.

“I remember coming out and playing last year when we played at Loftus (Versfeld). So we kicked the ball off after the first try that you guys scored. We kicked the ball off up the middle of the field.

“And usually when you’re playing against South Africa, you know exactly what’s going to happen. You kick it and they’re very scripted. So it doesn’t matter if you guys (the Springboks) are behind by 15 points on the scoreboard, you’re going to continue to play your game-plan.

“But we kicked the ball up the middle and there was an obvious overlap on our left hand side, your guys’ right hand side. And from inside your 22, we know, hey, they’re not going to run it. And then straight away, they just pulled the trigger and they go 80 metres and score another try.

“And in that moment, I was like ‘these Springboks are different’. Like this isn’t like the Springbok of old. They’re starting to change.

“They’re starting to see things and just pull the trigger when they see it.

“And then throughout that whole game, I’d never seen a Springbok team run from inside their 22 as much as they did that game.”

Quade Cooper’s view on Wallabies’ ‘hardest game’ of the Rugby Championship

The 84-Test Wallaby admitted that he enjoyed seeing the transformation in the Bok side and the fact that they combined their new attacking style with their traditional strengths.

“It was really exciting to see the progression throughout the Rugby Championship into the World Cup,” he said.

“Because the way that you guys started to attack and you had the physicality, as (in the past) you’d win the physical battle and there’d be space to go run it, but you’d never take it.

“So it was like as a defence, we always felt if we matched up physically, we can give them the space and we can shorten our line and just go at them like pretty hard.

“But now when you started to add in passing to your game, the way that the backs were attacking is a really scary thing to come up against.”

The veteran playmaker also admitted that he is excited by the emergence of several talented playmakers in the South African game, like Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse, and offered them some sage advice.

“Firstly, believe in yourself and what you’re doing, what’s got you there,” he explained. “So the guys like Manie, I really love the way he plays the game.

“And when I was alluding to that change when we played at Loftus, that was all off the back of him, you know, the skill that he showed.

“And I know that he copped some criticism throughout the World Cup, but he’s the type of guy who’s been able to take South Africa and push them to a whole new level, you know?

“So I’m super excited about the future for South African rugby, for these guys, Sacha, Manie, Damian as well. These guys are really special talents. And I just hope that they understand that.

“That they find ways to continue to elevate their game, continue to grow and understand the game in different ways. So if you have that as your skill-set, learn about other ways too, but always remember that that’s your strength. That’s what makes you different and being different is great.”

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