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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett says this past weekend’s Super Rugby action was a good advertisement for South African rugby.
Mallett was speaking in the SuperSport studio following the Lions’ 29-22 win over the Stormers in Johannesburg on Saturday night.
“The people who showed up at Ellis Park to watch this game were royally entertained. The best thing in sport is to see a game going right down to the final few moments and everyone intensely involved until the end. There was no slowing down of the pace or intensity of this match. The defence was as physical right until the end as it had been from the first moment, and it didn’t discourage either team from trying to hold on to the ball,” said Mallett.
“This was such a good advertisement for South African rugby. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a local derby as much as I did today. I was as excited watching this as I am watching any New Zealand derby.
“Normally we’re watching box kicks and jumping, reset scrums, mauls, kicking for territory... all because of that stupid phrase ‘you’ve got to earn the right to go wide’. It’s absolute garbage. If there’s space out wide, pass it wide. If you see space in behind the defence, chip the ball over the top. And today we’ve seen these two teams do that.”
Mallett also had kind words for the Bulls and Cheetahs, who recorded impressive wins over the Reds (41-22) and Sunwolves (92-17) respectively.
“Let’s not forget the Bulls and the Cheetahs did it as well. This was a cracking weekend for South African rugby,” said Mallett.
“I know the viewers like watching us on SuperSport, but I recommend that 10 000 people from Pretoria go and watch the Bulls’ next game at Loftus. That was an excellent win against the Reds. The Bulls played well on attack and were committed in defence. If they get the tighthead in their scrum right, the Bulls will push the Lions and Stormers hard towards the end of the season.”
