Irrespective of the weather, the Springboks are bracing for an all-out assault with ball in hand from New Zealand on Saturday, and will look to counter it with their own DNA.
So says Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick, who on Friday addressed the All Blacks’ attacking intent for the third Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at FNB Stadium.
South Africa were outscored four tries to three in last week’s series-levelling win in Cape Town as Dave Rennie’s men upped the ante with their high-tempo game.
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“The message is clear: they don’t play hide and seek. They talk about how they want to play and, when they get to the field, they play exactly that way,” Stick told reporters.
“We can all see that New Zealand now want to use ball-in-play time. They want to keep the ball in hand.
“If you look at the personnel that are in their team now, a guy like [Peter] Lakai starting – every time he comes off the bench he brings a massive impact for them.
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“[Wallace] Sititi is on the bench and that shows that they want more ball players where they can keep the ball in play. [Asafo] Aumua is also one of the good, strong ball-carriers.
“I don’t think these guys will change. Irrespective of the weather conditions, they will still try to enforce their DNA on us. We’ll also try to do the same thing.”
He downplayed the Boks leaking nine tries across two Tests in as many weeks, rather praising the Kiwis’ execution than any defensive issues from the world champions.
“We don’t want to concede any tries, but let’s give compliments to them. The way they’re playing, they’ve got confidence and their players are back at their best,” Stick said.
“Some of the tries they’ve scored have been well-earned tries, execution-wise. We take pride in how we defend. I wouldn’t say I see a problem in our system,” he added.
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A 45% chance of rain is predicted around kick-off, yet Stick is comfortable with the Bok strategy going into the must-win tie.
“The way we prepared on Monday is still the same. If it rains or if it doesn’t rain, our plan is not going to change at all. The way we play is built for any weather, basically.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post All Blacks ‘don’t play hide and seek’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Irrespective of the weather, the Springboks are bracing for an all-out assault with ball in hand from New Zealand on Saturday, and will look to counter it with their own DNA.
The post All Blacks ‘don’t play hide and seek’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
