BOB CASEY'S DIARY:South Africa thought they had been outfought on their last visit here and were conscious of not letting that happen again

A MALFUNCTIONING lineout invariably turns the spotlight on the beleaguered hooker who is generally apportioned the lion’s share of blame. It’s an easy assumption to make but wrong or at best blinkered. The lineout involves eight players and is a unit skill.

In offering a comparable analogy it would probably be an old-style watch whose mechanism is driven by a number of cogs. If one fails the watch will stop; the lifter is half a second late, he doesn’t lift the jumper high enough or he slips. One of these things can negate a perfectly thrown ball.

There are a significant number of variables at a lineout that will determine whether a team will be successful in securing possession and the resultant quality of the ball.

If a player is half a second too slow or too quick in a dummy movement to try to dupe the opposition then the process suffers, often fatally.

The player who is charged with calling the lineout has two general gambits. He can go with a pre-call lineout which means the decision is made before you arrive to the point on the touchline. He would still have three options to pursue in a pre-called lineout if there was a requirement for whatever reason. It’s a quicker process because you are ready to go as soon as you get there and there is less chance of the opposition cross-calling and moving.

The other is to call when you are in the lineout. This permits you to read how the opposition are setting up to defend but as you call they generally move and if it’s noisy confusion can ensue. The throw is rarely perfect so you allow for a little leeway.

Rory Best missed a couple on Saturday but there were other aspects to the problems. The more time you give to Victor Matfield, the more likely he is to read the throw. There has to be dynamism on your throw.

The ideal scenario is to secure possession unopposed, that you get your pod functioning and the jumper in the air a split second before the oppositions reacts.

The Springbok skipper will look to see where the pods of Irish players are, quickly run through in his own mind Ireland’s favoured variations from that set-up and then look to get players into the air. Matfield generally calls 75 per cent of lineout ball on himself yet Ireland failed to either grasp this statistic or react to it.

Any delay does nothing for a hooker and with each passing second you’re allowing the opposition additional time to read body language or look for tell-tale signs.

I was speaking to former Springbok and my London Irish team-mate Faan Rautenbach, who’d be very friendly with players like Bakkies Botha, and he was telling me that South Africa were very determined to win against Ireland and end a run of defeats in Dublin.

The team was hurting and they were determined to lay down a physical marker from the off. The Springboks thought they had been outfought on their last visit here and were conscious of not letting that happen again.

Samoa will pose an appreciably different challenge. In some respect the islanders are very similar to the Irish in that they’re very loyal to family, friends and team-mates, love getting together and really enjoy the craic and a few pints. They’re hugely sociable, like nothing better than organising a house party and a big feed. Most of our guys play the guitar and these occasions usually go on into the small hours.

They love their rugby; not necessarily the training aspect or the analysis and gym work, but just throwing the ball around. If they trained like they played we’d need accident and emergency services on standby during the week.

They never miss practice and also show up with a smile. They lift the spirits of the squad simply by their attitude and infectious enthusiasm. Genetically built for the sport, they possess that explosive power combined with great feet and wonderful hands while tackling like concrete mixers. They’re a real tight bunch.

I remember one Friday night game against Sale when they all ended up in the car park having a barbecue. They’ll kill each other on the pitch but as soon as the final whistle goes it’s all forgotten.

In talking to Selaila Mapusua they are really looking forward to the upcoming matches. That camaraderie is very evident in the way they play.

It was good to see so many of the players at the weekend taking up the challenge of Movember. There were ronnies of all shapes and sizes, some of which were very luxuriant, which makes my own effort pale in comparison. I cheated and started to grow my bit of chin fluff – I have the same growth spurts and consistency when it comes to a beard as someone in their early teens – two weeks ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed my week off but it also struck me how times have changed on a personal level.

In my early 20s I would have rounded up a posse and headed off for some European city to completely over-indulge; now the highlight of the week was a spa day and a night in with Shauna and some of her friends watching the X Factor.

I think this might be a cry for help. Where did it all go wrong?