‘They don’t have it’ – Springboks legend offers theory for All Blacks’ struggles
Ma'a Nonu in action for the All Blacks at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Springboks legend Victor Matfield.
The great Springbok Victor Matfield believes that it is not issues with the game plan or coaching that is currently letting the All Blacks down.
New Zealand have historically been the dominant force in the sport, even if other countries, such as England and Australia, have had their periods at the top of the game.
Only the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup record can really rival the All Blacks’ dominance in the professional era, but South Africa’s Test win percentage is nowhere near New Zealand’s.
Golden generation
Under Sir Graham Henry and Sir Steve Hansen, the All Blacks took the game to another level, lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in both 2011 and 2015, and becoming the first back-to-back World Cup winners.
However, since the latter stages of Hansen’s tenure there has been a decline and under Ian Foster, they suffered a number of unwanted firsts.
Scott Robertson then took over and his appointment was greeted with much fanfare, but the All Blacks have so far struggled to a tight series win over England and then succumbed to a shock home defeat to Argentina.
That 38-30 reversal at the hands of Los Pumas raised a number of questions about the players and coaches, but Matfield insists that it is all quite simple: their quality behind has dropped off.
“I went through that whole game on Monday afternoon. I rewound it, forwarded it, I really went through that game and when they were under pressure, I looked back at the days when the All Blacks were really scary,” he said on Final Whistle Presents Side Entry on SuperSport.
“The one thing they always had were athletes that were better than other teams. Their backline players were bigger and faster than other teams. They don’t have it.
“If I look at the All Blacks backs, they don’t have better athletes than any other team. If you compare them against South Africa, if you give our wingers the one-on-one, our wingers will be better.
“If you give our centres a go, our centres will be better than theirs. You’ve never had that. There’s no Tana Umaga, there’s no Ma’a Nonu, there’s no Jonah Lomu, there’s no Christian Cullen. They don’t have that at the moment.”
South African influence
After the All Blacks went back-to-back, so did the Springboks, who won the World Cup in both 2019 and 2023.
They are currently the number one side in the world and their methods are influencing the modern game, in the same way New Zealand used to set the trend.
And Matfield believes that the All Blacks have followed the Springboks’ example in the backline, which has ultimately hampered their own game.
“They went, ‘South Africa are picking guys that are good in the air’, so they went for full-backs at wing,” he added.
“They went away from strong, big wingers. I see this weekend they went for Caleb Clarke, which I think is a better thing for them. He’s better with ball in hand and for them that’s a strength – he will carry hard, he will be a threat when he comes to the line.”
READ MORE: Victor Matfield praises Springboks for beating Australia with ‘South African DNA’
