Siya Kolisi and Ardie Savea are the ‘best of rugby’ as New Zealand stalwart reveals how Springboks ‘sussed out’ All Blacks in Cape Town
All Blacks captain Ardie Savea with his children after facing Springboks.
The enduring memory of this Greatest Rivalry series will not be the F-bombs dropped and ill-feeling caused by an ongoing difference of opinion over scrummaging tactics.
It will not be the set-piece penalty won by New Zealand which turned the first Test their way at Ellis Park, Rassie Erasmus’ almost daily team tinkering prior to match two and the thunderous Springbok performance he unleashed.
It won’t even be the hair-raising sight of 56,000 fans being buzzed by two passenger jets which came within 12 to 14 metres of scraping the DHL Stadium roof in Cape Town.
According to one of rugby’s most travelled and longest serving players, none of those snapshots sum up the relationship that exists between the sport’s two superpowers, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as a video posted after the series was squared last weekend.
Siya Kolisi moment
It showed Springboks captain Siya Kolisi spotting the daughter of All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea on the sidelines at the final whistle and breaking off from what he was doing to go and give her and brothers a hug.
The spontaneous act struck a chord with Jimmy Gopperth, watching in Brazil, where he was about to play fly-half for the Classic All Blacks invitation team and share the field with ‘king’ Carlos Spencer.
“Rugby, as a sport, is about camaraderie and about connecting with the players you play against and with,” said the former Hurricanes, Newcastle, Leinster, Wasps, Leicester and Provence playmaker.
“The All Blacks have got such a history with South Africa. Yes, it’s war on the field. But when that whistle goes for the end of the game they’re like a group of brothers. A lot of those players really enjoy each other’s company.
“That video with Siya and Kobe was awesome to watch. What Kolisi and Savea bring to their group as leaders is that togetherness. The best of rugby.
“The coaches and media might be getting heated about scrums and who is at fault and putting it out there to add a bit of spice. But I don’t think Kolisi and Savea will care about those shenanigans.”
Momentum is with South Africa as the Greatest Rivalry series returns to the Highveld and Gopperth believes in Rassie Erasmus, the host nation has a coach whose powers of innovation make New Zealand’s job appreciably harder.
“He’s brilliant at mind games, a brilliant coach and tactician,” says a man who has known a few coaches in his time, having played 526 top level rugby games before retiring last November at the grand age of 42.
“Having him in their changing room, with the exceptional way he motivates his players to perform, definitely makes the Springboks tougher to beat.
“And after what has been going on in the press this week, there won’t be any lack of motivation from Rassie for his team.
“New Zealand are going to have to be at their best to combat that and show what they’re about. But 100 per cent the All Blacks are still firmly in this series.
“They played exceptionally well in the first Test,” Gopperth adds. “Their lineout didn’t function at all in the second yet there was, what, seven points difference?
“Without having a full set-piece they still had an opportunity to draw the game. These All Blacks have no fear. The way they are attacking, especially on the edges, is awesome to watch.”
New Zealand boss Dave Rennie has sprung a surprise by benching in-form lock Fabian Holland in favour of Sam Darry, while Peter Lakai is given his first start of the series at blindside in place of Simon Parker.
Sussed us out
“They’re well in this Test series,” Gopperth continues. “But they do need a platform to launch off on Saturday. And if their lineout doesn’t function, they’ve got to get it from kick return.
“South Africa sussed us out a little bit in this area last weekend. Rassie worked out that New Zealand were leaving the high ball for the player retreating, rather than one than coming forward. They kicked really short and that put us under huge amounts of pressure.
“I thought New Zealand should have changed and gone back to the traditional player coming forward to dominate that space a little bit more. I’m sure that will have been hot on the training list this week.”
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Gopperth has returned to his day job with Gallagher after playing 70 minutes for the Classic All Blacks in a 62-35 defeat of Brazil in Sao Paulo – the first time in 20 years he was worn the silver fern since his days as a Junior All Black.
“This is a really big weekend, it feels like make or break for both sides,” he adds. “For me, Jordie Barrett is key for New Zealand. He’s the real lynchpin of this team and last week you could see he was frustrated.
“He’s an absolute workhorse. Both sides of his game are excellent. In Cape Town he was flying around in defence, putting some huge shots in. But he had very few opportunities with the ball.
“The ABs need Jordie to be at his best, as he is pretty much every time he puts that black jersey on.”
