Unbeaten: All-conquering All Blacks
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All Blacks coach Steve Hansen issued an ominous warning to future opponents when he said the runaway Rugby Championship winners can improve.
"We are getting better," he told reporters after New Zealand survived a torrid opening half against South Africa at Soccer City to score 20 unanswered second-half points for a 32-16 triumph and 16 Test victories in a row.
New Zealand visit Australia for a deadrubber Bledisloe Cup clash on October 20 and face Scotland, Italy, Wales and England on an end-of-season tour to Europe that begins early November.
Facing the Springboks before a large, expectant crowd in the 90,000-seat football stadium proved no problem for the world champions as they improved on a 10-point winning margin when the great rivals met in Dunedin last month.
"We know we have some very talented players, but so have a lot of other teams," said Hansen, who succeeded Graham Henry after hosts New Zealand pipped France for the world title in Auckland last October.
"The difference between us and them is that we are perhaps getting our preparation right during the week and ensuring that our players have the best chance to perform on the Saturday."
The former Wales coach admitted it had been challenging travelling from New Zealand to Argentina - where they ran in seven tries in a 54-15 romp - and then to South Africa.
"We had to manage the players' workloads carefully," said Hansen, offering a possible explanation as to why the visitors cancelled the traditional eve-of-Test captains' run at Soccer City last Friday.
Hansen said juggling with different time zones tested his staff and the players, but he believed the squad "trained smart" ahead of the latest episode in one of the great rugby rivalries.
Captain Richie McCaw said mental strength was a key factor as the All Blacks turned round an early 10-point deficit to make it 16 Tests in a row - two short of the record for a top-tier rugby nation.
"We had the Rugby Championship sewn up last weekend, but the guys understood the challenge of coming to South Africa, and the need to back it up with another victory," he said.
"There are a few guys in our squad who have been around a while and they ensured that we kept our edge. Our fuel tanks probably were not 100 per cent full coming into this game so it came down to mental desire."
Comments
kiwilad says...
Trinats, you are so correct, improvement is necessary, Am hoping Darthbok will share some of his infinate wisdom with Hansen, rather than Deans to help them get over the line..
Posted 01:51 09th October 2012
darthbok says...
the key to beating the allblacks
1/ starve their backs of the ball
2/rush defence and good 2nd tier defence
3/have a loose trio that act as centres` punch and pass ` solid and very mobile
4/ kick for touch, not kick and chase.
5/ harass and dominate the ref for every infringement -not releasing in the tackle, offsides, collapsing the scrum,slowing the ball etc etc --all the grey areas that NZ are brilliant at
Posted 14:38 08th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
They will need to improve if they want to compete in Brisbane in a couple of weeks !!!
Posted 12:43 08th October 2012
cuw3100 says...
In anything, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Actualy its time in the middle that matters most than the training sessions. In cricket we say no matter how many balls you hit in the nets, its those you face in the middle that count.
This is clear from the MIB as well. With the tournament progressing the team has got better putting drills into play with a higher percentage of accuracy.
Got to pity the November opponents. the all Black machine will be seasoned by that time and ready to roll over anything in its path. Of course only rotation can affect a serious series of onesided matches.
Looking at the names in ITM matches , OMG , what the world would do to have such abundance of tallent.
Posted 11:59 08th October 2012
melkdave says...
A coach is never satifsfied ,and theres always room for inprovment,as their never will be a perfect game Hansen apart from trying to achive that perfect game as every coach wants ,also has to fight against complancency,and keep his team motarvated and fresh..They have won everything ,and are undoughtedly the worlds best atm.Keeping them there is just a bigger struggle than achiving it,as every team wants a NZ scalp.Its a sad fact that as the number one team your a target.,for everyone else.His lucky that he still has targets for them to aim for to help.The record for consecative wins ,and a clean sweep in the aurtum .Both still very hard to achive .as we all know upsets can happen in sport to the best ,no matter what.Myself i hope they get the record ,but England beat them,lol i can hope anyway lol.
Posted 10:51 08th October 2012