Matt Williams joined Monday Night Rugby and discussed South Africa.
South Africa lost to Australia at the weekend and they haven't beaten Australia in Australia since 2014.
That's a long time, but Matt Williams is shedding no tears for the Spring Boks. The reigning World Cup champions don't deserve sympathy as much as they deserve to be lambasted for their style of rugby. By playing with a huge pack, bringing another huge pack off the bench and playing negative rugby, South Africa are hurting rugby.
South Africa will counter and say they are winning games, but is that all that matters?
Williams believes South Africa owe rugby a debt and they should care about promoting the game. And that means playing more entertaining and expansive rugby.
"It's a horrid thing to watch and it's not good for the game," Williams said.
"But the South Africans are hard to beat, there's no two ways about it. The negative in all sports is always easier to implement and harder to beat than the positive. So Australia and New Zealand, and Ireland and France are playing a very positive gameplan in a system.
"South Africa and England are playing a very negative gameplan based on a big set of forwards, a lot of kicking and a lot of chasing."
England have Marcus Smith at out-half and South Africa have wingers to rival any other country. Williams knows that. He knows Cheslin Kobe and Makazole Mapimpi are superstars, so they have the talent. But neither Rassie Erasmus or Eddie Jones have the want to play expansive rugby.
Instead, they will maximize their chances of winning by taking advantage of what Williams describes as loopholes.
"What we're seeing is the positivity coming back into the game.
"It's really great to watch, it's really entertaining. It's uplifting for kids because it looks like fun and it is fun...it's not boring, it's entertainment which is ultimately what sports is all about.
"South Africa are winning World Cups on the back of a really big pack of forwards and a whole other bunch on the bench. Which was never intended. This again is the rules being changed. The bench in rugby was there for safety reasons, it's where it started out.
"Coaches...they're like tax lawyers, they found loopholes in the system."
South Africa to the Six Nations by 2025?
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