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Springboks tipped to sweep All Blacks in next month's Rugby Championship
The Springboks have been tipped by a Kiwi pundit to whitewash the All Blacks in their two Rugby Championship matches in South Africa next month.
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South Africa will host New Zealand across two tests in Nelspruit and Johannesburg in August in what will be the opening matches of the Rugby Championship for both teams.
The Springboks head into the first two matches of their campaign on the back of a series win over Wales, which they secured with a comfortable 30-14 victory in Cape Town over the weekend.
By contrast, the All Blacks head into the Rugby Championship in disarray on the back of a historic series defeat at the hands of Ireland on Saturday.
Their 32-22 defeat in Wellington came a week after they lost to Ireland in New Zealand for the first time in their history, leaving the All Blacks with just one win from their last five tests.
Slumping to their worst-ever World Rugby ranking of fourth place, immense public pressure is mounting on All Blacks head coach Ian Foster to leave his position at the helm of the national side.
After labelling the series defeat as “not acceptable” on Sunday, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson has undertaken a review into the unprecedented series defeat.
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The outcome of the review is expected to be known by Wednesday as speculation continues to swirl about Foster’s future as All Blacks boss.
So stark is the contrast between the fortunes of the Springboks and All Blacks during the July test window that Sky Sport presenter Ross Karl has predicted a clean sweep of the Kiwis by South Africa on August 6 and August 13.
Speaking as a panellist on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Karl said it’s “hard to imagine that it’s going to be anything other than 2-0 to South Africa” given the strength of the Springboks and the current state of affairs within the All Blacks.
“They’ve kept a beautiful balance from the last World Cup, haven’t they?” Karl said of the make-up of the Springboks squad that beat Wales in two of their three tests over the past few weeks.
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“They’ve added some players, given them some chances. [Springboks fullback Damien] Willemse looks like a real threat in international rugby now.
“He seems to have found his feet, but [Springboks first-five Handre] Pollard – and we talk a lot about [Ireland first-five and captain Johnny] Sexton – shows what that kind of experience brings to a team, the leadership.
“I really enjoyed how he took it to the line maybe a bit more than we’ve seen from him recently and showed some options there.
“They’ve just got a really strong team and, week-on-week, they are a contender against any side in the world.
“Against New Zealand in South Africa, against a New Zealand team that’s finding its feet, I find it hard to imagine that it’s going to be anything other than 2-0 to South Africa right now.”
If the All Blacks are to avoid defeat against the Springboks, former Crusaders and Maori All Blacks halfback Bryn Hall said it was crucial that New Zealand negate the threat posed by South Africa’s lineout.
In order to do that, Hall said the All Blacks must be disciplined and make good decisions on defence, particularly within their own 22.
“For me, the two areas for the All Blacks is the defensive systems they’re going to need when it comes to lineout maul and getting that right,” Hall told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“They’re going to get opportunities to get down there, they’re going to get opportunities to go to their lineout maul. It’s being able to defend that, and then to make good decisions like the English do.
“Tackle choice and being able to get the low chop and someone on the ball to be able to do a double shoulder and win that contact area even more, but then also get penalties and being able to slow down the ball, and be disciplined when we get into that 22-metre zone because, South Africans, that’s their money.
“That’s where they score their points and that’s where they’ll look to go for the All Blacks, for sure, in their two test matches.”
Karl added that he believes the All Blacks need a change within their coaching set-up, noting that incoming selector Joe Schmidt could replace Foster as a supervising coach for the Rugby Championship.
He said that would enable highly-successful Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson, widely seen as Foster’s successor as All Blacks boss, plenty of time to take the reins of the national side on a full-time basis ahead of the end-of-year tour.
“When I look at the timeline and you think there’s two weeks until they go to South Africa,” Karl told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“There’s no way you’re going to overhaul the entire management team in that time, so you’re either going to back Ian Foster for another crack in the Rugby Championship, or you’re going to bring in a supervising coach who’s going to oversee Ian Foster’s team right now because you just can’t do that from an employment standpoint in two weeks.
“I think you get to the end of the Rugby Championship and you make your big decision. It’s got to change. My personal perspective is that it probably will change.
“Whether you throw Scott Robertson to the wolves now is a hard one because he’s going to have a year-and-a-bit with a team that’s not progressing. He’s going to have to make some big changes.
“We saw Michael Cheika do that and take the Wallabies to a 2015 final, we saw Rassie Erasmus do that and take the Springboks to a World Cup title, but I wonder whether you’re better off to chuck someone experienced like Joe Schmidt in the meantime, and then give Razor the job off the back of the World Cup so he’s got time to build what he needs to build.
“They seem like the options to me. It’s hard, when you look at what’s happened over the last five or six test matches, not to think that there needs to be a complete change of thinking here, and it’s not working. It’s just impossible to ignore that point.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Should be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
68 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
2 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real speech. They claim free speech. The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
68 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
2 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
221 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
221 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
28 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
221 Go to commentsHuge engine this guy and great to see him back ..The amount of clean outs he does at the ruck are ridiculous !!
3 Go to commentsThe level of desperation in this article is just embarrassing.
221 Go to commentsSome silly trolling in the comments.
9 Go to commentsEverywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
68 Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
28 Go to comments