Former Springboks record cap holder Victor Matfield has questioned where the line speed has gone after the try-scoring record was broken in the Six Nations.
In total, the whitewash was crossed 111 times in 2026, which eclipsed the previous record set last year (108).
There were plenty of high-scoring games, two of which included France, who lost to Scotland 50-40 in Round Four before edging past England 48-46 to win the Six Nations title.
In a tournament which can be tight and tense, where defence, set-piece and kicking can rule, it was an incredibly free-flowing Championship.
There are a number of theories going around, including the tweaks in the laws potentially leading to a more attack-focused game and the intent of the respective teams, but has the defensive side of the game declined?
“I haven’t seen a lot of line speed in this Six Nations like you would see with the South African team. At one stage, France were hard off the line as well, but I haven’t seen that,” Matfield said on the Rivals podcast.
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Defensive struggles
France were surprisingly porous considering they have one of the best defence coaches around, while England were often quite tentative when coming up off the line.
It was in stark contrast to the Springboks-style blitz they implemented when Felix Jones was leading their defence.
The northern hemisphere nations will now look towards the start of the Nations Championship in July, where those questions may well be answered when they face the southern giants.
“These teams need to come up against South Africa, against the All Blacks to see where they are,” Matfield added.
“Is everyone better? Is everyone at the same level? Did Italy make the jump, or did the other teams come down?
“We all have to wait and see when these teams play South Africa and New Zealand.”
Ex-Ireland star Andrew Trimble then chimed in and thought France looked strong without the ball early on, but suggested that as the tournament wore on, teams began to compete with them physically.
“The line speed one is an interesting one because I thought France with Shaun Edwards as defence coach, they looked pretty formidable and pretty tough in the first three games,” Trimble said.
“They had everything their own way. Whenever you dictate terms, then you dictate the tempo of the game, and you can bring line speed because your lads are feeling fresh and feeling good, and are in control.”
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Can the Springboks be breached?
Trimble also made the bold call that he feels the Springboks, who have consistently had the best defensive system over the past few years, could be breached.
“No one’s ever really been able to do this to South Africa, but I think it definitely can be done if you shift them about, if you get tempo in your game, if you go wide-wide and you’re really accurate,” he said.
“It’s so much easier said than done, but any of these sides that look as good as France did defensively, you can still get them chasing their tails.
“Scotland had them ran ragged, England did at moments at the weekend as well. It’s very easily said and not easily done, but that line speed can be broken down.”
Matfield also felt that most of the teams approached the game with a positive mindset and that, in turn, led to more opportunities being created.
“The more you play, the more opportunities there are for the other team as well because you make mistakes, there are turnovers, your forwards get more tired,” he said.
“There wasn’t really any of the teams – maybe England a little bit before they went away from it – where it was really about kick pressure, slow it down, go from set phase to set phase, trying to strangle them with their kicking game.”
READ MORE: Has defence got worse, or has attack got better? The evidence behind the broken records