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Habana: What Boks beating All Blacks means for Autumn Nations Series
Bryan Habana believes that the thrilling Rugby Championship victory by the Springboks over the All Blacks earlier this month has provided a perfect springboard for the Autumn Nations Series. South Africa open up against Wales on November 6, then tackle Scotland before facing England for the first time since brushing aside Eddie Jones’ team in the 2019 World Cup final.
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Although the Springboks finished third in the Rugby Championship, losing three games out of six, a 31-29 win against New Zealand underlined their quality. After resuming international action this summer with a 2-1 Test series victory over the British and Irish Lions, South Africa will now look to leave another pre-2023 World Cup calling card.
“There were a lot of questions asked during that Lions series, but the way the Springboks came out of the rugby wilderness, the mental resilience that team showed was paramount,” Habana said at the Autumn Nations Series media launch.
“They got found wanting against Australia in the countries’ second Test of the Rugby Championship, but they proved in the last game against the All Blacks that they are worthy world champions. We saw the Test quality of the Springboks team in that last game.
“As world champions, the expectations and standards they set are really high. They will be looking to continue the form they showed in the last game against New Zealand. There will definitely be a three (wins) from three goal in place next month and they will be focusing on the first game against Wales, where they haven’t had much success over the last half a decade.”
The latest from the Six Nations on the Springboks link…#SouthAfrica #AutumnNationSeries #SixNations #Springboks
https://t.co/oPvz4OC0ih— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 26, 2021
Wales have won four games on the bounce against South Africa in Cardiff, and Habana added: “Go back over the last four or five years and the titanic battles against Wales, it has been physically won up-front and I can’t see this game being much different. It is always a nail-biter. Wales definitely have had the upper hand in Cardiff over the last six or seven years – but the Springboks will be raring to go.”
Habana, who scored 67 tries in 124 Tests for the Springboks, also believes England boss Jones has got it spot on in calling up exciting prospects like Harlequins pair Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt to his autumn squad. “In the mid-World Cup cycle, Eddie knows he potentially needs an opportunity to blood young new talent within the set-up,” Habana said.
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“Marcus Smith has had a dream twelve months, to be honest, and is justly rewarded, and then you look at players like Alex Dombrandt, who was also instrumental in Quins winning the Premiership last season. It has been a bit of a master-stroke by Eddie.
“It is a series when you can potentially give opportunities – mix that experience with youth – and hopefully get a better insight to what he needs to really look forward to in terms of the next World Cup in 2023.”
England skipper Farrell has been speaking from Jersey about Marcus Smith, his one-time roommate who poised to take the No10 shirt on a long-term basis from the axed George Ford#England #AutumnNationSeries #ENGvTON
https://t.co/IjByQ4k8oX— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 26, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments