Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus says merely trying to contain the All Blacks’ attack in Saturday’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry decider, would be a recipe for disaster.
Erasmus believes the Springboks must embrace and build on their attacking intent at Baltimore’s M&T Stadium, with victory required to seal a 3-1 series triumph.
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The Boks bounced back from their 33-16 defeat at Ellis Park by beating the All Blacks 33-26 in Cape Town followed by Saturday’s 29-24 win at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium, and Erasmus does not want his team falling into the same trap as in the opening Test.
“I think the important thing is we just have to score more points than them,” Erasmus told the media from Baltimore.
“I think one of the biggest mistakes you can make against the All Blacks is just to try and defend.”
Erasmus admitted the Springboks became too focused on stopping New Zealand in the first Test, only to realise afterwards that they had attacking opportunities of their own.
“At the end of the day you just need to outscore your opposition. If it means they score four tries and you kick five drop goals like Jannie de Beer at the 1999 World Cup against England, you just need to score more points than them. To try and contain them is extremely difficult – just ask our franchises and France.”
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That places an even greater emphasis on the Springboks’ attacking evolution, with assistant coach Tony Brown working to ensure the Boks are not overly reliant on their traditional strengths at scrum time and maul time.
“Tony has worked really hard since the loss in the first Test,” said Erasmus.
“Obviously we don’t just want to score maul tries or scrum tries, we also want to use other opportunities, so we’ve been working hard at that. Damian [de Allende] was good on Saturday, Jesse [Kriel] was very good, Ethan [Hooker] did well so I think the guys are getting better.”
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Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
The post Rassie: Boks just need to outscore All Blacks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus says merely trying to contain the All Blacks’ attack in Saturday’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry decider, would be a recipe for disaster.
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