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'100% legal': The All Blacks tactic that surprised Rassie Erasmus
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Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus was left surprised by the unexpected defensive tactic by the All Blacks in the 33-16 loss in the first Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
The All Blacks stripped a lot of ball away from South Africa’s ball carriers, something that Erasmus said he hadn’t seen on the tape when it came to the All Blacks tackling techniques.
Despite winning the penalty count 14-10, a total of 23 turnovers lost for the Springboks proved to be insurmountable.
“They had a very clever tactic, again, 100% legal, they were stripping in the tackle,” Erasmus said post-match.
“They didn’t tackle like we practiced, that we thought they would. They were normally either pushing down or chop tackles, and in this game, they had a lot of strips.
“Even the try or the non-try, which we didn’t maul, the ball was stripped right over the touch line.
“The one where Jasper got pushed into Grant [Williams] when the ball got blocked down there.
“So a lot of them [turnovers] is because of the good work of New Zealand. That the ball wasn’t slippery. We can’t use that as an excuse. We’re not an inexperienced team that played.
“It’s probably the pressure that they put on us, at that different loose play, breakouts, and so on. We didn’t do well there, and they did great.”
Erasmus credited the way that the All Blacks put South Africa off their game by ‘harassing’ halfback Grant Williams, who was under pressure frequently.
“That’s probably the thing which New Zealand are great at,” he said, “is that they really know how to stop you inside the 22 in different ways, being stripping the ball, being it contesting for the ball on the ground, being it harrassing the nine within the laws.
“I’m not saying they’re doing it outside the laws, and and we couldn’t handle that.
“I don’t want it quoted the wrong way, but I thought up until minutes 50, we were really dominating territory, possession, and we felt that we were really in the game.
“But a class team like New Zealand, if you don’t convert, they give you proper hiding.”
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