Former Sharks coach John Plumtree believes the Springboks will be under immense pressure when they face a confident and united All Blacks side in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
The All Blacks stunned the Springboks 33-16 at Ellis Park last weekend to take a 1-0 lead in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, leaving South Africa needing a response at Cape Town Stadium.
Plumtree expects Rassie Erasmus and his coaching staff to have made some changes to parts of their game that failed to fire in Johannesburg.
“I think defensively, they’ll be getting more width on defence, and I think they’re going to be working real hard on their skills this week,” Plumtree said on the PlayZN TMO podcast.
“The mauling and the scrumming the boys can do really, really well so they’ll be working harder on some of the things they’re not doing so well.”
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Plumtree, however, believes the All Blacks are heading to Cape Town in an excellent space under captain Ardie Savea and coach Dave Rennie.
“They [the Boks] are under pressure. They’re up against a proper team, a united team, a happy team,” he said.
“Ardie Savea is leading well, Dave Rennie is grabbing the job by the scruff of the neck, Tana Umaga is in there and Tana and Ardie have a real connection.”
Plumtree also singled out the All Blacks’ halfback and midfield combination, believing Cam Roigard, Ruben Love and Jordie Barrett are among the best in world rugby at the moment.
“Their 9, 10 and 12 are probably right up there with the 9, 10 and 12 for France,” he said.
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Plumtree believes the short turnaround could favour an All Blacks side looking to take another decisive step towards completing a memorable series victory over their arch-rivals.
“Seven days is a long time for the Springboks and the New Zealanders will be looking at putting another little nail in that coffin,” he said. “So we’ll see how it goes.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Plum: All Blacks want another nail in Bok coffin appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Former Sharks coach John Plumtree believes the Springboks will be under immense pressure when they face a confident and united All Blacks side in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
The post Plum: All Blacks want another nail in Bok coffin appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
