Nick Mallett says the Springboks’ physical dominance was the key to their famous victory at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Boks produced a bruising performance to take a 2-1 lead in the series after the Tests on South African soil, with just the solitary Test remaining on neutral ground in Baltimore in the USA.
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According to Mallett, the Springboks’ physical superiority was evident from the forwards through to the midfield and backs.
“A 25m maul try with Malcolm Marx delivering the coup de grâce and very fittingly banging his hand on the grass because he was so frustrated with his missed opportunity from the first Test,” Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast.
“A penalty try for a scrum where they [the All Blacks] absolutely disintegrated and we scrummed the living daylights out of them under their poles.”
But it was not only the Springboks’ pack that impressed Mallett.
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He pointed to the contribution of centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende as further evidence of the Boks winning the physical battle across the park.
“Our two centres in their own way physically dominating [Leroy] Carter, with Jesse Kriel bouncing him off and just running straight past him,” he said.
“And then Damian, whose hand-off gave him the time and space to draw and make a beautiful two on one for [Kurt-Lee] Arendse’s try. So in all of our tries, we had that element of physical dominance,” he said.
The former Bok coach also praised Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, insisting the result was determined by the players rather than controversial refereeing decisions.
“It was a very even game. It wasn’t a game where you could say the ref had a big influence on it,” Mallett said.
“It was the players in both teams that had to fight it out and win this game. I thought the ref was really good – and not just for us. I think he gave both teams benefit and he was strong. Good officiating made for a great competition between two outstanding teams.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Mallett: Bok bulldozer beat All Black Ferrari appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Nick Mallett says the Springboks’ physical dominance was the key to their famous victory at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The post Mallett: Bok bulldozer beat All Black Ferrari appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
