Sir Steve Hansen reveals ‘CIA’ mantra that will form basis of All Blacks’ preparation for Springboks series
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and former New Zealand boss Sir Steve Hansen.
All Blacks’ legendary coach Sir Steve Hansen has given some insight into how Dave Rennie will be preparing his troops for their South Africa tour.
New Zealand begin their series in the Republic with a match against the Stormers in Cape Town before they face the Sharks and Bulls over the following week.
That gives head coach Rennie an opportunity to both fine tune his plans and provide players with opportunities ahead of the Tests with the Springboks.
Clarity, intensity and accuracy
“They’ve had an ideal prep so far in that they’ve got there nice and early, and given themselves plenty of time to recover as it’s a long flight,” Hansen told the Rugby Unity podcast.
“Then they’ll start to build quietly into their week. We used to call it CIA where you had clarity early in the week, then build in a little bit of intensity.
“They will probably have one run where it is quite high intensity and then they will be checking the accuracy at that point.
“The accuracy comes from the clarity of understanding what you’re trying to do, plus dealing the pressure that the group who aren’t playing are putting on you.”
The first Test between the Springboks and All Blacks takes place on August 22 but the tourists’ current priority will be the Stormers clash this Friday.
They will have to make sure they are primed and ready with the Cape Town outfit no doubt desperate to cause a big shock later this week.
“Dave and the coaches will be asking that group to really train well to put pressure on the starting group and that’s where you measure where you’re at,” Hansen said.
“And then [for a Saturday game] you’ll fine tune on Friday. Usually from Thursday afternoon, it’s all about individuals getting themselves mentally in the right mindset to go out and play the way he wants to play and the team wants to play.
“That takes a lot of energy, takes a lot of mental energy and you’ve got to make sure you don’t get lost in the whole thing of being in South Africa.
“Rugby’s about getting a performance on Saturday and if you think about a triangle, the performance is at the top of the triangle.
“At the bottom you’ve got to have two things in real equal proportion; one of them is simulation and learning and the other one is enjoyment and fun.”
Balance between training and enjoyment
It is a long tour for the All Blacks, who have eight games in total, including the final Test of the series which takes place on neutral soil in Baltimore, and Rennie will have to make sure his side are mentally fresh throughout.
“You can’t stay in rugby mode 24/7 so over the years we’ve learnt to make sure we enjoy ourselves and enjoy each other’s company, and not get too serious about life until we need to,” Hansen added.
“When we train, we train to dominate, we don’t train to train otherwise we’re not training well enough.
“There’s an expectation when you go out to train, there’s a purpose for it and you have your own purpose and the coaches will have a purpose that they will want to add on top of your own.
“It’s always about getting better and being prepared the best you can.”
READ MORE: Ex-All Black’s ‘no-brainer’ selection verdict for Springboks Tests: ‘He is Rennie’s guy’
