'Ruthless and clinical' Springboks to bounce back from 'flat' patch
Some of the shine may have been lost from this weekend’s 100th clash between the All Blacks and Springboks following the latter’s poor performances over the past two weeks, but All Blacks head coach Ian Foster isn’t expecting anything but the best from his side’s old rivals on Saturday.
Having not played test rugby since claiming the World Cup in 2019, the Springboks have had a somewhat slow start to the year. After dropping the opening game of the British and Irish Lions series, the Boks bounced back to record back-to-back wins over the tourists in two of the least expansive test matches of the modern era.
A series win is a series win, however, and the Springboks entered the Rugby Championship with confidence high and quickly set about dismantling the Pumas over two weekends in late August, before heading to Australia for the remainder of the competition.
After leaving two weeks of mandatory quarantine, however, South Africa were comfortably accounted for by the Wallabies, going down 28-26 and 30-17 over successive weekends.
They now enter their historic match with the All Blacks with somewhat of a dark cloud hovering over their heads – but Foster’s side are planning for the best kind of Springboks side, one that drains the life out of you and forces you into making error after error as they knock over kicks to keep the scoreboard ticking along.
“I think their goal will be to be ruthless and clinical,” Foster said after naming his line-up for Saturday’s clash. “They’re at their best when they play a pressure game against you, when they play a power game against you. And that’s not to say they can’t do other things, but I think that’s when they’re at their best.
“We’re sort of preparing for a team that’s been targeting this game and we’ll come out with that focus. We’ve got to make sure in those two aspects that we win that battle so it’s a great challenge for us.”
Despite their less-than-exceptional performances against the Wallabies, Foster expects the Springboks will be more than up for the fight between the two top-ranked sides in the world at present, especially given the experience in their line-up, and the All Blacks have prepared accordingly.
“I can only plan and expect them to be at their best,” he said. “I think we’ve seen signs of that through the Lions series and I know we use the word ‘dire’ and all that sort of stuff for that series but let’s face it, it’s always a big series, it’s a pinnacle event and they won it. The style of the win was probably irrelevant in many ways in those sorts of series. We’ve got to give them credit for that.
“They’ve looked a little bit flat since then but they’ve come out of quarantine and played a fast team that’s really gone at them. I think they’re very experienced. We’re expecting them to have learnt a lot the last two weeks and there’s a lot on the line for them and there’s a lot on the line for us. Both teams need to be at their best so that’s what we’re preparing for.”
Ian Foster has explained some of the major selection calls for the All Blacks' 100th match with the Springboks and revealed the team's injury concerns. #AllBlacks #NZLvRSAhttps://t.co/s2uZa9QzpP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 23, 2021
After besting the Springboks in the pool stages of the 2019 World Cup, winning 23-13 in Yokohama, the All Blacks were knocked out of the competition by England at the semi-final stages while South Africa eventually emerged as world champions.
Factor in the successful Lions series win and Foster says regardless of the past two weeks, this Springboks side is the best yard-stick for assessing the All Blacks’ current standing in the world.
“If you look back at the last two or three years and if you ignore the last couple of weeks for South Africa, they’ve earned the titles they’ve got and they haven’t done that just by playing a style no one likes, they’ve done it by being really efficient and they’ve nailed the game that they want to play,” said Foster. “They earned all the rewards they got at the World Cup for doing that and so, for us, it is a big test.
“It’s a chance to actually measure ourselves against a team that has earned their reputation by delivering week-in, week-out, in some big games. And if you go back to our last few games in 18 and 19, there’ve been some really tight battles so we’re expecting that. But we’re not worried about that, we’re excited by that.”
While the Springboks have made just two changes to the run-on side that were well-beaten by the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend, Foster has heavily rotated his squad to bring in a number of experienced players.
Saturday’s test kicks off at 5:05pm AEST.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments