Murray Mexted believes the All Blacks’ success in South Africa will depend on one thing above all else.
With Dave Rennie’s side preparing for the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, Mexted says too much attention has been paid to the results of previous matches against the Springboks and not enough to why the All Blacks came up short.
“I think possession is bloody important, but there’s no journalists that I read in our newspapers that talk about possession, how significant possession is,” Mexted said on the DSPN podcast.
Reflecting on New Zealand’s 2024 tour of South Africa during the Rugby Championship, where the All Blacks went down 31-27 and 18-12 to the Boks, the former All Blacks No 8 pointed to one statistic he believes tells the real story.
“We went to South Africa, we won 41% of the ball and 42% of the ball and we got beaten.
“Everyone talks about us getting beaten. Why did we get beaten? Well, we got beaten because we didn’t win enough ball. If you don’t get the ball, you don’t score points.”
BOK SQUAD: Sacha, Siya return as Rassie chooses his 43
Mexted also warned that the Boks are only one part of the challenge awaiting the All Blacks.
“You can’t go to South Africa and have all those outside influences that exist in South Africa,” he said. “Don’t say they don’t because they do. There’s outside pressures that don’t exist anywhere else in the world.
“Altitude’s a big one. Environment’s another big one. And the third one is you’re playing against big men, big men that win possession, and they base their whole game on winning the ball and having the ball and smashing the opposition and putting the ball up in the air.”
BOKS BEWARE: All Blacks on the rise
Mexted believes South Africa’s identity has remained unchanged for decades.
“They play a different type of game. They say, ‘We will monster you in Africa.’
“And that’s what they’ve been doing for bloody decades. They’re not going to stop now. That’s their game.”
RUGBY’S GREATEST RIVALRY: A tour like no other
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The post All Blacks legend: Boks will ‘monster’ you appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Murray Mexted believes the All Blacks’ success in South Africa will depend on one thing above all else.
The post All Blacks legend: Boks will ‘monster’ you appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
