Pollard needs power to override

John Mitchell

Daniel Carter was a colossus for the All Blacks during the 2015 World Cup final against Australia and is a worthy winner of the World Rugby Player of the Year award.

The world’s premier flyhalf was superb in the big moments at the eighth edition of the event. In the final, his three first half penalties allowed the All Blacks to build scoreboard pressure and his excellent tactical kicking ensured they enjoyed 79% territory in the first half. There was also that long exit kick, with emotion driving his forwards, that arrived just before he slotted a long-range penalty. If you ejected Carter from the All Blacks, and took all those big moments away, you wonder if New Zealand would still have won the World Cup?

Springbok pivot Handré Pollard has been talked about as a flyhalf who has the potential to become as good as Carter. However, during this World Cup, Carter received quicker ruck ball than Pollard, especially during the play-offs, and benefited from the All Blacks’ superior calling system.

The reason flank Schalk Burger spent too much time at first-receiver for South Africa was as a result of a calling system whereby No.10 is not given the power to override the call. For example, there is a colour call for the ball to go to No.10 (black), a colour call for the forwards to play off No.9 (white) and a colour call for the ball to go to the short side (green). The call is made depending on where the space is and where more attacking numbers are. It’s generally called from the outside players into 10 or the short side pivot. Pollard, like Carter, needs to be able to override a call depending on what he sees.

During the early stages of the tournament, from observation it was clear to me that Carter was standing too flat especially on phase attack, which set his teammates up to be hit by aggressive defence. The opposition would have hoped for that to continue, but Carter soon recognised that he couldn’t go to the line as much and adjusted his depth during the play-offs. The All Black forwards playing off No.9 allowed the 33-year-old to stand deeper.

Carter also began to excel with his exit kicking, goal kicking, restarts and the way he directed play. His defence was excellent too. According to the Vodacom Rugby App, he shared the most number of tackles – 12 – for the All Blacks in the final with teammate Sam Whitelock.

Whoever replaces Carter at flyhalf for the All Blacks will have big boots to fill. Beauden Barrett, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden are all good runners, as Carter was earlier in his career, but they don’t possess the same kicking exit length as Carter and can’t deliver the killer drop-goal blow. All three of the flyhalves who will be auditioning for Carter’s role need to get more miles on the clock so they can develop their skills ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

In terms of the Springboks, while Pollard is an exceptional athlete, as things stand Pat Lambie boasts the better skill-set. But just as Carter worked his way back into being the best player at the World Cup, so too can Pollard, with the attention to the right areas of his game.

Carter is a great example of perseverance and being able to control the emotions of the outcome and staying in the ‘now’. Carter was far more focused at this World Cup than he had been earlier in the season, because he was mentally well-prepared for the tournament.