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Coke Series

Teams playing in the Coke series are selected from grade 10 and 11 players. This means that the Coke team will more or less become the 1st team for the next year. No wonder we had 74 schools entering the competition this year. For me this series offer the best practice ground for forming combinations for the next year. Even if your team is in a fortunate position to reach the final rounds of the Beeld Trophy and you can’t use all your players, use this opportunity to shape the depth from the available players. Where will you find another venue that offers you such a variety of teams to practice against in such a short time? Don’t go for the top position, but for the experience and who knows?

This year I have been asked by Webb Ellis to monitor the handling of their ball and therefore had enough exposure to most of the games. I would like to share some of my findings with you. Some of the games have been played in extreme cold weather but the average handling has been slightly above average. I would like feedback on the ball handling from the teams playing on the A field.

I was surprised by the urge of teams to score tries instead of going for post when receiving a penalty. In many cases a bonus point was on offer had they scored 3 extra points, yet the choice was to take a lineout. The lineout was sometimes then lost and in a few cases the ball was not kicked out. One of the teams received 5 penalties within kicking range and trailing by 10 points. Had they kicked one of the five they had a bonus point and trailing by 7 or less justifies a lineout. It must be part of the game plan to listen to what the coach is shouting when a penalty is awarded.

If you decide to take the lineout, make sure you win it on your own throw. 81% of lineouts are won by no2 or 3 jumpers while only 59% are won by 5 upwards. The reason is that with the jumper support rule, number 2 or 3 of the opposition always jump and obscure the ball from the rear jumpers making the timing extremely difficult at the back. It is also off-putting for the hooker who then pushes the ball skew to avoid the opposition jumpers with a resulting scrum for the opposition.

The Penalty count was so very different that I am afraid that different referees see the matches different for the same teams. Here you have to ask the ref about the infringement and try to avoid them. As a Captain you are allowed to call your team together and explain to them what to avoid. That is of course with the permission of the Referee.

Hope to see 100 teams at next year’s Coke Challenge as we will try and get some TV coverage for you. If not, we will have proper analysis of as many games as possible and provide you with information and experts to give you advice preparing for the next season.