Sir Steve Hansen: Stormers will want to ‘rip the All Blacks head off’ as their job is to ‘beat the s— out’ of them for the Springboks
Evan Roos, who has been released from Springboks squad, celebrates Stormers try and All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie.
Ex-All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen has warned Dave Rennie’s side of the perils of facing a revved-up Stormers outfit in their opening match of the South African tour.
After arriving in the Republic recently, New Zealand begin with a game against John Dobson’s men in Cape Town on Friday.
Although the franchises will be without some of their Springboks for the games against the All Blacks, what South Africa has shown over recent years is the depth they possess.
They will particularly look to bring it physically against Rennie’s team, who will have to be ready for the onslaught.
‘They want to rip your head off’
“One thing about the midweek games you don’t fully understand until you’ve been involved is their job is to beat the s*** out [of the All Blacks],” Hansen said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“They may not be Test players yet but they want to be, so they’re going out to prove, ‘hey, I’m good enough to be in your team Rassie’.
“It makes it difficult because you don’t really know them that well but they’ve got a mindset they want to rip your head off and if you don’t turn up with the right attitude and right mindset yourself, it becomes a difficult afternoon.”
Rennie has brought 44 players to South Africa and everyone will get the opportunity to impress as they look to force their way into the Test team.
Hansen is happy with the group the head coach has selected, even if the odd call was always going to be debated.
“I don’t think anyone was unfairly missed out,” he said. “[Du’Plessis] Kirifi is probably unlucky because they decided that’s not the loose forward they’re going to need cover for.
“When you look at the squad and the breakdown of the squad, you’ve got Ardie [Savea] that can play seven, [Anton] Segner can play seven, [Luke] Jacobson can play seven.
“It’s the combinations at times. They just see the play and think he should be in the team because he’s so good, and he is a good player there is no doubt about that.
World Cup hero ‘raring’ to tackle the All Blacks again after torrid injury run
“I’ve got no doubt if they lost a specialist seven, they would pick up the phone and bring him, but selecting a team sometimes involves more than just picking out-and-out specialists.
“Everyone else has earned the right to be there, I don’t think there are too many people who have missed out. I think it’s a pretty soundly selected side.”
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Dave Rennie picking ‘hard-nosed people’
Ethan Blackadder is another individual that can fill that openside role with Rennie giving a clear picture about what type of player he likes.
“You talk to anybody that’s played with Blackadder they just love him as a person. He’s a really strong character, gives you 100 per cent, can play all three [back-row positions],” Hansen added.
“It’s an indication that they want some hard-nosed people. They’re going to a place where if you don’t have hard-nosed people, you’re going to come second, so they’ve picked a group to take on the right opposition.”
