A yet 9 months ago they lost to us by 1 point, a man down for half the game.
A yet 9 months ago they lost to us by 1 point, a man down for half the game.
Showed the iovastions the Springboks brougght into the game recently by Erasmus and his coaching team and theere are more t vome with Willemse still injured, .
Nonsense...this is still the Allblacks...a week is a long time in rugby...3 weeks an eternity...they'll be ready for us. It will be 2 massive test matches...and Rassie is risking unnecessary pressure by not selecting a full strength team for Saturday.
Huh?
The point is we are getting better since the WC
We won the final without a specialist hooker
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Sir John Kirwan can’t see All Blacks ‘competing’ with Springboks after making Australia a ‘kangaroo in the headlights’ Colin Newboult 13 Aug 2024 10:29 AM
All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan admitted that the Springboks looked ominously good during their impressive victory over the Wallabies.
Rassie Erasmus’ men dominated the game on Saturday and ended their Brisbane hoodoo by claiming a 33-7 triumph at Suncorp Stadium.
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South Africa will look to repeat that effort in the second Test in Perth, which would put them in a very strong position heading into the key New Zealand encounters.
It was predicted that the matches between the Springboks and All Blacks would decide the Rugby Championship title, but New Zealand were poor in their shock home defeat to Argentina.
On that form, Kirwan insists that Scott Robertson’s side would have no chance in South Africa, but the former flyer is holding out hope that things will change this weekend.
‘All under serious threat’
“We need to see an incredible improvement from this Australian team, otherwise we are all under serious threat from a very good side,” he said on The Breakdown.
“I thought they were a kangaroo in the headlights, they need to come out and at least compete, and so do we.
“After that, [if the Springboks win] I’m going to go ‘wow’, because I don’t see either the All Blacks or the Wallabies competing with this side today.
“Hopefully I’m sitting here next week going, ‘well, that was an amazing performance and the Australians tipped them up, and we’ve got five points and she (the Rugby Championship title) is all on’.”
Kirwan, usually a critic of Springbok rugby, was very impressed by what he saw on Saturday and credited head coach Erasmus for his ability to continually ‘innovate.’
“You’ve got to say with the coaching staff, Rassie is an innovator,” he said. “You throw to the back pod, you throw it to the front pod that’s in the air and then you maul for a try. You’re taking a huge risk at Test match level.
“Rassie was the guy that brought in the different traffic light systems, he’s brought in this ‘Bomb Squad’, so he’s a coach that’s gone, ‘okay, I’ve looked at the World Cup, who’s one of the best attacking coaches in the world? Let’s go and get Tony Brown’, and he’s brought him into the environment.
“They’ve also got a really solid team.”
One big change for South African rugby has been the switch to the northern hemisphere with their main franchises – Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – joining the PRO14 to become the United Rugby Championship, and Kirwan believes that has helped them to improve.
“From a high performance point of view, I think mentally it’s harder up north. You have more games. The games, sometimes they finish 10-9 and you get used to a different style of rugby,” he added.
“If you balance that with the amazing athletes that are in South Africa, and with a base of player where you go, ‘well, we’re on this journey, we could be the greatest team ever’, it looks like they’ve found another gear and they want to take their game to another level.”