Giteau reveals Wallabies' plan

August 5, 2009 - 10:49AM

Wallabies five-eighth Matt Giteau is hoping to avoid a goalkicking shootout with Springboks flyhalf Morne Steyn in Saturday's Tri Nations Test in Cape Town.
But he still believes the Wallabies can put the boot into the Boks at Newlands.
Giteau realises Australia need to match the world champions in tactical kicking to have any hope of notching their first win in the 2009 tournament.
And, with able support from centre Berrick Barnes and halfback Luke Burgess, that's what Giteau plans to do.
"The Springboks use their kicking game very effectively," Giteau said.
"From my point of view, having a guy like Berrick outside me and Luke inside me, they are two good kickers and that helps my game. It takes a lot of pressure off me as far as kicking is concerned.
"If we look at most of the Tri-Nations games, they are all decided by who is able to put the most pressure on the opposition and who is able to get the best field position and generally that comes down to the kicking game.
"Our kicking game was poor against New Zealand (three weeks ago in Auckland). I thought we were out-kicked in that game. Hopefully it won't happen against the Springboks this weekend."
Giteau slotted 55 from his 65 attempts at goal in Tests last year, his 85 per cent success rate one of the best in world rugby.
But while his strike rate has dropped marginally to 76 per cent in 2009 - with 13 goals from 17 shots at international level - Steyn is rapidly developing a reputation as the finest goalkicker in the world.
Giteau scored all 22 points in Australia's 22-6 win over France in June, but Steyn raised the bar when he contributed all 31 of South Africa's in their 31-19 victory over New Zealand in Durban last Saturday.
His swag of points, a Tri Nations record, included eight penalties and took his strike rate to 90 per cent - 19 goals from 21 attempts - since making his Test debut in the Springboks' series win over the British and Irish Lions last month.
Given both stars' impressive success rates and the similar pressure-based playing styles of the Wallabies and Springboks, Giteau was asked if he thought Saturday's clash may be decided by a goalkicking shootout.
"The way he hit them (last Saturday), I hope not," he said.
"The last time I played him was here when he was playing for the Bulls (in Super 14) and I was with the Force and again his kicking proved the difference.
"He nailed a lot of penalties that day. Our discipline was poor that day and he punished us for it.
"He did the same last weekend and, if our discipline is poor, with his kicking accuracy, we will get punished again."
While the All Blacks failed while adopting distinctly different approaches in their two Tests against the Springboks, using a safety-first kick-focused approach in Bloemfontein and a high risk expansive game in Durban, Giteau said the Wallabies needed to strike a balance at Newlands.
"Being able to have that variety and apply pressure in different ways throughout the whole 80 minutes will be crucial for us," he said.
"We'd like to score as many tries as you can. But it is about getting into a good field position and, once you're there, being able to attack from there."
© 2009 AAP
http://news.rugbyheaven.com.au/break...0805-e996.html

So the game plan is
1 Kick better than we did against the AllBlacks
2 Be more disciplined than we did against the AllBlacks
3 Be more aggressive and Efficient than we did against the AllBlacks

well........duh!

The question in my mind is....what is he going to do if it doesn't quite work and they just kick it back but with a better chase? As plans go, it is pretty obvious so I'd like to feel there was a plan B out there somewhere and someone will be able to take the initiative to implement it.

The plan's not all that bad, you can kick to the Boks if you do it well.....the danger is if you do it poorly, you'll surely get hammered all day.

Recently the Wallabies have a habit of kicking to the man and not chasing effectively....that's a recipe for playing the ball from inside your own 5 metre line all day IMHO, particularly with Morne and Franz in the hunt.

That's kind of my point - I just hope the plan runs a little deeper than "I'm going to kick and hope I've got my good boots on, 'cos if not we're screwed"....

Jeez really hoping the :force: players learn how to do this one - otherwise we'll have season 09 again

Pretorious is 10 times the tactical kicker Giteau is, the only problem is he's not up to the same standard as a ball runner.

Can't really comment much on his passing, he played with the Lions and
a Didn't get much quality ball
b Didn't have much outside him to pass to

Hopefully we've traded a fairly 1 dimensional #10 who's the best in the World at what he does for a more well rounded #10 who's not as good but the whole package suits the team better.