Sir John Kirwan urges Scott Robertson to implement Ian Foster game plan against Springboks side that ‘couldn’t handle All Blacks pace’
All Blacks celebrating win over Springboks in 2022, and new head coach Scott Robertson.
Sir John Kirwan insists that the All Blacks must ‘run the Springboks around’ if they are to defeat the world number one side in South Africa later this year.
Following the conclusion of their mid-year series, New Zealand’s focus now turns to the Rugby Championship, which begins in August.
Scott Robertson’s men start off with a couple of home games against Argentina before they face the Springboks in a crucial double-header, with both of those matches taking place in South Africa.
Two years ago, they had the same challenge under Ian Foster and faltered in the opening match, going down 26-10 to the Boks in Mbombela.
Attacking at will
That was a result which put Foster even more pressure and almost saw him sacked, but a week later they went out with a different mentality.
The All Blacks spread the ball at pretty much every opportunity and came away with a stunning 35-23 triumph at Ellis Park.
Robertson’s side have so far been very structured, with the scrum and defence both going well, but Kirwan wants to see New Zealand take more risks.
The 59-year-old felt that they showed signs of it against England but he hopes that the shackles are well and truly off in the Rugby Championship.
“I’m sure we’re starting to see a little bit of it. If you remember back to the first few minutes against England in the second Test at Eden Park, they actually threw it around,” Kirwan said on The Breakdown
“They tried to give it some air, tried to run the opposition off their feet. How are we going to beat South Africa? We’re not going to beat them at their own game so we’ve got to run them around.”
Fellow ex-All Black Justin Marshall, who was also appearing on the show, reminded Kirwan of New Zealand’s display against South Africa two years ago.
“We did that successfully a couple of years ago at Ellis Park, literally run them off the park,” Marshall said. “They had to replace their front-row before half-time, they couldn’t handle the pace.”
Scott Robertson: All Blacks San Diego Test shows how ‘healthy’ rugby is in the USA
It will be a significant challenge for the All Blacks, who struggled to find their rhythm in attack against England.
They were better against Fiji but the Pacific Islanders did not bring the same defensive qualities that the Springboks will offer in the Rugby Championship.
“We’ve got to learn to beat that blitz defence. Some of those movements that were highlighted [against Fiji] is exactly what you need to do to do that,” Marshall said.
“You’re not going to have the time but, equally, as long as the players are all expecting it and are running at that depth with that type of precision, and the handling is clean, then yes you can execute against blitz defence.
“It will always look good against lateral, time and space defence which is different to what we’re going to experience later in the year.”
Unsustainable
Jeff Wilson felt that the Fiji clash, which they won 47-5, offered hope facing the Springboks, with the conditions in San Diego similar to what they might expect in South Africa.
However, Wilson insists that it is a game plan which would be hard to replicate elsewhere in the world, especially when they head north for their end-of-year tour.
“Do you know how many times we’re going to play in those conditions this year? Probably once. It’s 27/28 degrees, it’s hard, it’s fast and no humidity; perfect conditions for our style of rugby,” he said.
“The fact we’re playing on top of the ground, guys aren’t slipping over, the ball is dry. All of a sudden our passes start to stick, our alignment’s good, guys are running onto the ball, guys are in support. Everything’s on top of the ground.
“To me I look at this and think it’s perfect for our skill set right now in terms of what we’ve always been able to do. But we weren’t able to do that in Auckland because it was a little bit dewy, a little bit wet.
“You go down to Dunedin and it was cold. We’ll go to the northern hemisphere [and it will be the same]. The only place you might get these conditions – it’s similar but with no grass on the turf – is in South Africa.
“This was perfect for us to showcase our talents against a team that didn’t show up.”
