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Tana Umaga warns All Blacks against getting distracted by Boks' power
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Tana Umaga says the All Blacks can ill afford to get absorbed by the Springboks’ giant pack and lose sight of their backline threats, with the evolution of South Africa’s game set to pose a wide array of challenges to the New Zealand defence over the coming month.
Umaga has overseen the All Blacks’ defence portfolio for six games now, conceding an average of 23 points per game against three international opponents in July and 13 against three URC club teams to begin the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.
But his next opponent, the back-to-back world champions, have been in lethal attacking form to begin 2026, starting the year with an 80-point performance against the Barbarians before putting up more than 40 against England, Scotland and Wales, respectively.
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“You’ve got to expect a lot of what they’re good at, and we know that’s coming,” the coach told reporters in Johannesburg ahead of the first in a historic four-game series. “But with the coaching staff that they have in their group, we’ve got to be ready for anything.”
Assessing his side’s current form on defence, Umaga chose his words carefully to deliver a balanced summation.
“Look, we’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not content,” he said. “That’s the feeling from us. We can keep on improving, and we know that we need to coming into this weekend against the world champs.
“We’re not resting on our laurels. We’ve made some improvements, and to be honest there’s been a couple of areas that haven’t been going as well as they were in the Nations Championship. But we’ve got a bit of time before we get to the weekend’s game to rectify those.”
The Springboks’ most recent outing, a 17-10 win over Argentina, was a less devastating attacking performance. Meanwhile, the All Blacks have had three more comfortable fixtures to get their attack rolling in South Africa. But Umaga was unwilling to see the preparation for the series as giving the visitors any advantage.
“This South African side’s been together for a long time. They know what it takes to win big matches. Also, their game is very solid, and they know what they can rely on. So, I don’t think there’s much advantage in us having more games.”
Umaga said the messages for his troops were clear: “Don’t give them entries into the area that they want to get to, that promotes their strengths. Obviously everyone talks about the set piece, but they’ve grown in terms of their attacking prowess in the backs and utilising their forwards in the right spaces.
“Obviously the size of their pack and their relentless wave of big men coming at you, I think that’s going to be tough for us. They’ve added some really soft touches to their game, with the skill set they have in the backs. Once you concentrate on what’s coming to you up front, they look for space out wide, and they look for space in behind. When you focus on one thing, you take your eyes off another. They have the ability to change between the two.
“It’s about our ability to make sure that we’re focusing on what’s important at this minute and then making sure we’re looking in the second area around how we can alleviate some of that pressure.”
