Aaron Smith says the All Blacks cannot rely on a high-tempo approach to break down the Springboks when the sides meet again in Cape Town on Saturday.
Dave Rennie’s side opened the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series with a 33-16 victory at Ellis Park, scoring five tries despite spending much of the opening hour under pressure.
Smith says the All Blacks’ success was not about simply tiring out the Springboks. Instead, New Zealand found ways to exploit weaknesses through clever attacking moves and sustained defensive pressure.
“If you think about the tries you would score against South Africa, everyone thinks against bigger men, speed will score you tries eventually, but they’re not that big and they’re not that unfit,” the former All Blacks scrumhalf told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“It’s easier to break a team down within two phases than it is 10 because after 10 they’re going to be even more structured, the forwards are going to get into spaces where they feel safe.
“The tries we got were very much on the back of penalties or homework moves.”
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While the Springboks could alter their approach in Cape Town after their Ellis Park defeat, Smith does not expect them to suddenly become a team that can be run off their feet.
“The games always look different and South Africa are so good at defending,” he said.
“Yes, speed will pressure them but the tries you get will look way different to, say, you play a team that wants to play ruck-and-run rugby too.
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“I don’t want the New Zealand public to think we will just run over them, that’s not going to happen, but we’re going to do our homework and find these chances to go at people and bad spots – props, the wrong defenders – and score tries like we did in the first Test.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Smith: All Blacks won’t just run over Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Aaron Smith says the All Blacks cannot rely on a high-tempo approach to break down the Springboks when the sides meet again in Cape Town on Saturday.
The post Smith: All Blacks won’t just run over Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
