Vulnerable All Blacks 'lacking desire and ready to lose' to Springboks; Rugby Stuff

Captain Kieran Read and his All Blacks had plenty to celebrate during their last encounter with the Springboks.

Apparently the All Blacks have a lack of desire and that means the Springboks will win the test in Cape Town this weekend.

 

That's the theory doing the rounds in South Africa, promoted by respected local rugby pundit Mark Keohane.

 

In his latest column veteran scribe Keohane senses – he does clarify that by calling himself "eternally optimistic" – a real opportunity for the Boks to embarrass a team who have won every Rugby Championship match this year and already has the title sewn up. That success, in a nutshell, is the All Blacks' Achilles heel for this match.

 

The Springboks were shattered the last time they played the All Blacks.

 

"I think the Springboks can beat New Zealand at Newlands," Keohane wrote on Sport24.

 

"But ... and here's the but ... it will be more because of New Zealand's lack of desire than anything else should the Boks win.

 

"The occasion is all set up for a South African victory. The desperation is with South Africa. The match is an 'after the fact' test for the All Blacks. They've already won the Rugby Championship and the bigger picture for Steve Hansen is the end of year tour to the Northern Hemisphere.

 

"There's also the irritation of playing another 'after the fact' test against the Wallabies in the guise of a Bledisloe Cup match that the All Blacks have also already won this year."

 

 

Keohane believed it was a huge mental test for the All Blacks in an area where they had already shown vulnerability this year.

 

"How does a player get up for a match in a competition that has already been won? The intention will always be to put everything on the line but the mindset is always different from a player when there is nothing to win.

 

"The All Blacks, without question the greatest team in the modern era and the most dominant international sports team of the last decade, have proved to be at their most vulnerable in these so called dead rubbers.

 

"The All Blacks, in all their test matches this season, have also looked decidedly disinterested once the match seemingly has been won, which in many instances in this Rugby Championship season has been within 30 minutes of kick-off."

 

Keohane chose to brush aside New Zealand's 57-15 win over the Boks in Durban in the championship finale last year  and the rampant 57-0 win over South Africa last month.

 

"There have been so many indifferent and ordinary halves in between that there is a very good possibility that the All Blacks at Newlands will be nowhere near as potent as the black tidal wave that crushed the Springboks in Albany."

 

Keohane's article also took another desperate edge, turning to historical statistics and averages to back up his optimism.

 

"If not a rare Springboks success against the men in black on Saturday, then when? Everything points to this being the day for the men in green and gold. The averages suggest that the Boks are due a win because they've only had one in the last 11, and the trend in the last five years would indicate that South Africa poaches a win every six tests against the All Blacks.

 

"There has been enough about the All Blacks this year to give teams of reasonable quality hope that they can be beaten. But it requires everything to go the way of the team wanting to beat the All Blacks.

 

"Teams that want to beat the All Blacks have to nail try-scoring opportunities and kick points on offer because even when the All Blacks don't play well they can still conjure up 20 points in a few minutes."

 

Keohane was adamant the Boks needed the win more than the All Blacks and that had to be borne out in performance.

 

"The edge in intensity has to come from South Africa, and I believe it will. This will be just another game of rugby for the All Blacks but for the Springboks playing careers and coaching careers could be on the line," he wrote on Sport24.

 

"There will be little consequence to the All Blacks if they lose. Not so the Springboks.

 

"It may be clutching at straws, but straws are all I have when assessing the possibilities of a Springboks win.

 

"If this was the Rugby Championship decider I'd never even contemplate the possibility of the Springboks getting a win, but it's not a championship decider."

 

 - Stuff

 """respected local rugby pundit Mark Keohane""".

 

This is the same coke head that has had numerous allegations linked to him- none of which are being a respected journalist or expert in rugby.

He copies and pastes a few ideas from other people and passes it off as his own, any ideas he forms himself are useless.

This is why he contradicts himself all the time- and any few decent points that are regurgitated out of him.

Although it also appears to be some sensationalist headlines by" 'The Stuff" to get more eyeballs 

 Some hope for the Boks? ABs will have to be motivated to win, it's weird that a few plays early on in a game can change to whole complexion of the game. 57-0 make me think that the ABs can have an off day and still win but you never know.

Disinterested ABs to be defrocked by a process with more to lose.....hahaha. Anything is possible, but this would be like Frazier getting off the canvas and knocking out George Foreman.

 This guy is much of an idiot as Rattue. Abs at their best 57-0. A Week off. Rusty 36-10 victory. Abs won't be complacent. That is why they have picked their best side. And I expect them to bring the required intensity. The chances of a boil over is probably unlikey. Boks should be much improoved, but Abs by 20.

 Ja, Keo is a fool.

Haaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaaaa!!

All you guys need to beat the Goats is to field a team consisting of Dane Coles, Kieran Read, Barrett, Naholo and Ben Smith.

The rest of the side can go shopping or have a pub lunch somewhere.

I think I should go join Keohane site and tell him what I think of his stupidity.

 AB's lack motivation Hmmmm? Sure.....alright then, divide 57 by half, add half a point and they win 29-0. 

 Well maybe the ABs can go home after the first 30 minutes then ?

Ab's will be plenty motivated. No need to worry about that. They are massive favourites week in and week out against any opponent, and they still basically always pitch up motivated. Boks won't get the massive hiding they got a couple of week s back, the Boks are better than that, but they will still win comfortably. 

 Yeah too true BB ,having all those young blokes in there gives them a bit of that fire in the belly .Like when you where a wee tacker you didnt give a hoot about whether or not the game had any significance ya just wanted to get on the paddock eh ?

 Yes, those were the days Wardad, we played every chance we got & in those informal games score didn't matter it was making a big play and listening to our own running radio commentary including simulated crowd noises that mattered. Once we hit 10 winning became a factor though.

 Man o man I was a legend in my own mind ,Pinetree didnt stand a chance when I was plying for the wee tackers team.

 Strange things happen in sport and pride comes before a fall it has been said. If this adage is true who knows. 

 
Hey Hick ... how many teeth do you have in your mouth? One? Is it on the upper or lower jaw? Probably stained muddy brown by a lack of hygiene, huh? Can you touch your nose with your chin? 

Guess it's too late now to get a better understanding of your a,b,c's, huh? Seems sheep shearing and the army was about all you were good for. 

Low life piece of sh!t!!

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Our quota coach hasn't mouthed off on how his Goats are up to beating the vulnerable All Blacks this time around ... in fact he's gone in the opposite direction.

The All Blacks were all on edge the last time ... they hadn't had a good season up until then and so believed the nonsense that Tottie was spouting. Their response was to focus and come out firing ... 57pts to zip later tells the story.

There is no pressure on them this time. They have seen what the so called mighty Bok has to offer and have no fear of the collision tomorrow. They are going to have a fun practice session and run us ragged.

Tottie has made some ridiculous selections. A tighthead prop on the bench to cover the loosehead ... a useless 4 lock running the lineout at 5 ... a converted 7 that usually plays at 6 now selected to play at 8 ... a 7 moved back to 6 ... and a lock coming in at 7 ... with no-one to contest the breakdown. 

As expected, the exciting Nkosi couldn't even make the bench ... but instead we have a bench filled with Pollard, De Allende, Paige and Steroid Boy. Riveting stuff. I'm sure these players drive the fear of God into the All Blacks.

We are at sixes and sevens regarding our defensive structures and have the same revolving doors in our backline standing between their powerful runners and our tryline.

I don't think we'll see another record score .. I do however have my hopes of one.

It would be wonderful to see another whitewash but what are the odds of an back to back whitewash drubbing? It is possible, especially with the latest selection fiasco.

I hope that this will be another nail in Tottie's coffin.

He should be dead and buried by the end of the year.

Go All Blacks!!