Nick Mallett explains why Springboks win in Baltimore is important to avoid All Blacks ‘bragging rights’ in Greatest Rivalry series
All Blacks scrum-half Cam Roigard takes on the Springboks defence and former South Africa coach Nick Mallett (inset).
Nick Mallett has emphasised how important it is for the Springboks to win their final Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks in Baltimore on Saturday.
After three Tests played so far, South Africa have their tails up as they head into the all-important fourth clash between the arch-rivals with a 2-1 lead.
The All Blacks made a fantastic start when they won the opening Test in Johannesburg, but the Springboks showed why they are the current world champions as they responded with successive triumphs in Cape Town and Soweto.
Despite brimming with confidence after those two successes, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has made just two changes to his starting line-up for the Baltimore Test with Damian Willemse taking over from the injured Cheslin Kolbe at full-back while Morne van den Berg replaces Cobus Reinach at scrum-half.
Springboks determined to finish on a high
And Mallett believes that by retaining the bulk of his players who were in action for the final Test, Erasmus is showing that the Springboks are determined to finish the Greatest Rivalry series on a high with another win.
“I will say this with Rassie, there’s been no foot (taken) off the throat with the selections here,” he told the Talking Boks podcast. “He’s said: ‘Listen, this is how we beat them in Test two, Test three. We could have beaten them in Test one if we’d just taken our opportunities’.
“So we could have been three-nil up. No, no. But they did play well, five tries to one.
“We were very, very poor in our execution in that first Test. But he wants it to be three-one.”
Despite losing two out of three Tests, the All Blacks have stayed true to their attacking roots and have scored more points than the Springboks over three Tests.
This, after they clinched a 33-16 win at Ellis Park in the series opener before the Boks bounced back with a 33-26 triumph at the DHL Stadium and a 29-24 victory at the FNB Stadium.
Overall, New Zealand have outscored South Africa by 13 tries to eight over the three Tests and Mallett believes if Dave Rennie’s troops win in Baltimore it would give them bragging rights over the world champions despite the series being drawn.
“I think the All Blacks will be absolutely delighted with two-all,” said the former Springboks coach. “So, there is a hell of a lot riding on this Test. There is a bit of bragging rights in terms of them saying: ‘OK, you know, you won those two. But look at that’.
“They’ll come and say: ‘Look at the try-scoring’. If we if we get four each in this game in Baltimore, they’re going to have scored four more tries than us, four or five more tries than us over the four Tests.
‘Mental pressure’ also a factor
“There’s a lot on this game as well as mental pressure, which is something coaches always want to put on the opposition. You know, get doubt in their minds, make them think, ‘how are we going to beat South Africa? We had four opportunities. We won the first one, but then we’ve lost the last three’.”
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Mallett feels a Boks victory this weekend will also be a psychological blow to the All Blacks ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia where the arch-rivals have been drawn to face each other in a potential quarter-final despite being the two top ranked sides in international rugby.
“And that World Cup quarter-final springs to mind straight away,” he explained.
“They’ll go in there feeling less confident if we win on Saturday in Baltimore than if they draw this two-all.”