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Wayne Smith | August 12, 2009
Article from: The Australian
WALLABIES second-rower James Horwill is not sure if the Springboks broke Australia's lineout code in the Cape Town Test but does not dispute coach Robbie Deans' claim that the lineout collectively froze.
A Wallabies squad member who asked not to be named has raised the possibility that the South Africans might have decoded the Australian lineout calls at Newlands, enabling them to steal seven Australian throws and to put enough pressure on the lineout to force two crooked feeds. It's a theory Horwill does not entirely discount.
"It's interesting," Horwill said yesterday. "They might have. I hope not. They defended well and there's no doubt they seemed to get where we needed to be. Whether they knew the codes or not I don't know, but they obviously had done their homework."
The fact that Nathan Sharpe shouts the coded call before each Australian throw would make it possible for the Springboks' analysts to work out patterns by correlating the numbers called against where the throw was targeted.
Intriguingly, the South Africans brought very little pressure to bear on the early Australian throws, with their lineout general Victor Matfield seemingly studying Sharpe's calls.
Thereafter the Boks applied so much pressure that Australia won only 10 of its 19 lineout throws, a double negative for the Wallabies because every ball lost was ball the Springboks were able to launch against them.
Fascinating as the broken code scenario might be, the more logical explanation is that the Springboks simply used far smarter tactics.
Horwill admitted yesterday the Wallabies had tried to avoid throwing anywhere near Matfield, the world's premier jumper, a ploy that quickly became apparent to the Springbok ace, who positioned himself at two in the set piece to shut down the safe Australian option of a throw to the front of the lineout.
That in turn forced Sharpe to call the middle and back of the lineout, which are moderately risky options at the best of times, let alone when the Boks had Bakkies Botha, Pierre Spies and Juan Smith positioned to intercept the throws.
The other explanation, of course, is that the lineout simply malfunctioned, as demonstrated when Sharpe, jumping at six, was hoisted high and then brought back down to earth just as Steve Moore's throw sailed right where he had been and into the hands of the South African tail-gunners.
Examples like that prompted Deans' observation that the Australian lineout "essentially froze".
Horwill glumly accepts the criticism. "We didn't do what we said we'd do," he admitted. "Our job at the lineout is to win the ball and we didn't do that, so I suppose that is a fair view of it.
"It doesn't come down to one person. The whole forward pack has to take ownership of the lineout not going well.
"It shouldn't fall on the shoulders of one or two people. We can't let that happen again.
"It's too many times to be giving away possession to a team like the Springboks. Do that to them, and to the All Blacks as well, and it's going to be tough to win a game."
The Wallabies have the Sydney Test against New Zealand on Saturday week to get their lineout back in working order before confronting South Africa a second time in Perth on August 29.
Reassuringly, the shoe was on the other foot in the recent Eden Park Test, with the All Blacks turning over three lineouts to the Wallabies, but that was more the result of their poor execution rather than any pressure the Australian forwards put on.
The other positives for the Wallabies will be the expected return of Rocky Elsom, who provides a genuine third jumping option, and the fact that Horwill will not be running on empty, as he was at Newlands.
The Reds skipper revealed he had barely been able to take any fuel on board after suffering food poisoning early on the Thursday morning before the match. "I hadn't eaten anything and I just ran out of energy," he said. "By halftime I was spent."
A high-impact player under normal circumstances, Horwill struggled to make an impression in the first half.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html