Role of a number seven key, and McCaw is the king
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By James Mortimer
The new law interpretations were in some respects meant to hamstring the effectiveness of a genuine fetcher by protecting attacking teams, but the 2010 Investec Tri-Nations so far has proven that the way the game is being governed has only increased the importance of the openside flanker.
In this, if one had to identify perhaps the one aspect where the Springboks were flawed in their horror Australasian road trip, it would be again in the ignorance of the necissity of a ball winner in the loose.
South African rugby maxim for many years has switched in between the need to play a specialist open side flanker versus playing three massive ball carrying and lineout capable forwards in the back row.
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