World Cup-winning All Blacks boss runs through blueprint to beat Boks

The Wallabies showed how it’s done last year at EP: Run across as many times they could and not kicked the ball away, the idea was to get the big, heavy Boks tired

It also worked well for the Rangers in 2024 at Loftus

As mentioned, it’s difficult to implement.

One thing doing it & another running your mouth ABOUT it.

Think he hits the nail on the head here, you have to handle the aerial battle to beat the Boks and compete physically to frustrate them. Discipline is essential to avoid easy entries, keep it down to less than 10 pens a game and depowering their lineout an absolute must. Playing a 6 that can be lifted in the lineout and challenge the front ball is critical and if you can bring their lineout down to 80% and give them messy ball at set piece then theres a chance. Also avoid scrums like its the plague, if theres a scrum make sure its on your feed and get it out quick. Match their physicality on defence, play off transition when they drop the ball and move the ball wide early off turnover. If you cant win the kicking game dont try, move the ball to wider channels before kicking and turn their forwards around, put pressure on at breakdown and force them to kick under pressure. If you do all that you can beat them. Having said that its hardly a simple proposition now is it

Not trying to challenge a team at their strength is a good start point and as usual Hansen makes some good points. You don’t beat the Boks by playing their game, you beat them by making them play your game.

Trying to nullify the Boks’ strengths is a textbook rugby flaw— worrying about what the opposition is doing instead of backing your own game. You’ll always be a step behind with that approach, especially against a Springbok side that can shift between multiple plans mid-game.

The All Blacks need to focus on rediscovering their identity and that big-factor X-factor that defines them. The defence is leaking tries far too easily right now — the structure needs urgent attention.

You can’t truly call it a resurgence until the ABs have measured themselves against the Boks. That’s the real benchmark. Until then, it’s hard to gauge genuine progress. Teams 2 through 5 are all pretty even in strength anyway.

Boks have more than one way to play, that much has already been established. It’s no longer about the Kiwis and Boks, it’s about France and the Boks.

About as good advice as saying “score more points than them”.

Hansen was quoted as saying that he didn’t buy that SA were trying to play a more attacking brand - that SA were misleading teams in terms of how they want to play the game.

I actually agree with him - I get the distinct impression that the springboks are giving the All Blacks as few pictures as possible to analyse before they arrive in SA. They seem to have reverted to their standard menu of kicking, set piece dominant play. Maul tries. What everyone seemingly expects.

This weeks picks of Pollard and Papier seems like a doubling down on old school tactics. A double-bluff.

Hansen seem’s to have forgotten that the Boks lost at Eden Park playing Old school with Pollard and won in Wellington fairly emphatically playing Tonyball. Maybe they didn't cover the games in Japan?

There’s no point giving too much away in these home games against the North. The Greatest Rivalry may as well be the World Cup, and Rassie and co. are shrewd operators.

Hurricane rugby (and I don’t mean the SR team - though they are an exemplar of it) is on its way. 80% < 3 second ruck speed in the France v AB game vs 49% <3 second ruck speed in the Boks v England. The Boks have mastered the structured power game and taken it to a level that other teams rarely can compete with. But this new hurricane rugby will make huge demands on teams reliant on structured power based game plans. The game against Scotland, who play their own form of hurricane rugby, will be very interesting and may be an insight into to things to come.

Beat them at their own game - dope, bite, fight, eye gouge, sack grab, fish hook, toe stamp. For all others.

If you're the resurgent ABs, just do your thing with the ball.

Let it fly and watch them cry!

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