Nick Mallett: Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry gave Rassie Erasmus ‘confirmation’ on older Springboks as All Blacks worked a way ‘around’ South Africa
Springboks centre Jesse Kriel and an inset of Nick Mallett
The Springboks and All Blacks have both benefited tremendously from Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series, according to Nick Mallett.
New Zealand fell to back-to-back defeats to Rassie Erasmus’ charges in their final two matches in South Africa after winning their first five matches in the Republic, with the Springboks and All Blacks squaring off in Baltimore in the Test series decider.
Regardless of the outcome of the finale, Mallett believes that both Erasmus and Dave Rennie will have learnt plenty about their respective squads throughout the series.
The ex-Bok coach says that the New Zealand players needed the physicality test that the South African teams provided and will be pleased with how they fronted up despite the absence of a handful of injured players.
How the All Blacks benefitted
Scott Barrett and Tamaiti Williams were both key players under Scott Robertson and both missed the tour due to injury, while the likes of Caleb Clarke and Billy Proctor returned to New Zealand after setbacks they sustained in South Africa.
As for the Springboks, Mallett believes that Erasmus got ‘confirmation’ that some of the more experienced players are still capable of producing in big Test matches but adds that the All Blacks worked out South Africa’s defence.
“Both teams, flat out,” Mallett said on SuperSport’s Final Whistle presents Side Entry show when asked which team benefitted most from the RGR tour.
“They must feel that they’ve got a tremendous amount out of this. They faced our physicality; they’ve worked out that there is a way to get around our defence.
“They’ve scored 13 tries against our eight. They also know they’ve got some players back home injured that they can reintegrate, and they think they’ve got a bright future.”
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Rassie Erasmus gets confirmation on older Springboks
Prior to the second Test match between the two sides in Cape Town, Mallett said that World Cup places were on the line for some of the older players in the Springboks squad.
“This will be the test. Listen, this is going to be the test for a number of players. It’s one year out from the World Cup again; a lot of them still want to go to the World Cup. This is a big challenge,” he said.
Revisiting that topic after the third Test, Mallett said that those more experienced players passed the test and hailed the leadership in the Springboks’ team.
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“I think for us, it is confirmation that there are a number of experienced players that you can’t write off, that still have got a lot of gas in their legs and still have got the experience and the know-how to come back after a disillusioning first Test match, and then win the next two,” he said.
“Outstanding effort. Good leaders all around, and we’ve got players pushing them hard from within the group.”
He added: “I think both camps have been extremely well served by this tour. We’ve had a most fantastic time watching this. I mean, even watching the midweek games, you said that they’ve had three chances to beat us, but they actually had four games and two tests. So they’ve had a lot of preparation against South African teams.”
