Ex-All Blacks prop: ‘This Springboks’ team is one of the great teams of the modern era’
Wyatt Crockett has hailed the current Springboks team as one the greatest of the modern era.
Former All Blacks and Crusaders front-row Wyatt Crockett has hailed the current Springboks team as one the greatest of the modern era.
Crockett was part of the great All Blacks team that won the 2015 Rugby World Cup and racked up over 70 caps for his country.
The ex-prop, who hung up his boots in 2018, praised the Springboks when he provided his appraisal of the All Blacks season to date under his former Crusaders boss Scott Robertson.
The 41-year-old was hesitant to be too harsh on the All Blacks considering the “challenging” opposition they faced as he is impressed with the quality in depth that Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has at his disposal.
The current Springboks team
Crockett was asked whether he has been impressed with the All Blacks under Robertson’s guidance this year and with the ex-Crusaders boss winning six of his first nine games in charge.
“Obviously, you never want to lose and then to lose and learn is difficult because you would rather win and learn,” he said on SENZ Radio’s Mornings with Ian Smith.
“It’s been a challenging start coming up against quality opposition, this Springboks’ team is one of the great teams of the modern era, I feel.
“They have won a couple of World Cups, they have a huge squad with massive depth in every position – their B team is not too far off their A team.
“So the All Blacks have been up against some really quality opposition, I’m interested to see the growth towards the end of the year and seeing the lessons that they have learned and their potential moving forward.”
Springboks dominate Rugby Championship stats illustrating Rassie Erasmus’ Bok evolution
The learnings the All Blacks take from the defeats to South Africa and Argentina are crucial for Crockett who believes that Robertson will be working away to ensure they improve ahead of their end-of-year internationals against Japan, England, Ireland, France and Italy.
“Razor is a really astute and totally focused coach – you won’t get anyone more focused than him – so no doubt there’ll be some massive lessons that they will put into place in the end-of-year tour and evolve over the next few years,” he added.
“It’s been a tough start but the key is the learnings that they get from it and how they adapt and grow.”
All Blacks’ final quarter woes
One area of concern for the All Blacks was their inability to finish matches well, as they only managed to score in the final quarter of a Test once during the Rugby Championship – the last clash against Australia.
Crockett was asked about the mentality around the use of the bench, a question the former prop was well-positioned to answer having earned 46 of 71 caps as a replacement for the All Blacks.
“It was something that really evolved while I was an All Black, particularly during the last four or five years of my career,” he explained.
“We really embraced that finishers’ role and the importance of it. At the time, that was a massive part of our success, the bench often came on and won the game or changed the game.
“It’s been really interesting to see that this year, it’s probably been one of the biggest areas that the current group is looking to grow and trying to get back to finishing strongly and overcoming teams in the last 20.
“It’s been an aspect where they really haven’t done well but it’s a huge area of growth, so it’s been interesting to watch.”