Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has identified what currently gives the Springboks the upper hand over their greatest rivals.
The Springboks sit atop the world rankings after winning back-to-back World Cups under Rassie Erasmus, while the All Blacks enter a new era under Dave Rennie following the departure of Scott Robertson.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, Read reflected on the mental resilience that defined the All Blacks teams of his era and believes the Boks now possess that same quality.
Recalling their dramatic comeback win against Ireland in Dublin in 2013, Read said: “We were a team that had built this absolute belief in each other and then the ability to come back from whatever situation was thrown at us at that moment.
“So in that moment where we were down and out, it was like, ‘OK, let’s go back to who we are’, which was being All Blacks.
“And you got Skipper [Richie McCaw] just telling you just to relax and calm down. Even though the scoreboard was telling us something different, it was like, ‘Nah, go to our process’.”
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Read said that type of confidence can’t be manufactured overnight.
“There’s something about belief and there’s something about building that over a period of time. And you can’t just switch it on.”
Asked whether the current All Blacks possess that same ability to dig themselves out of trouble, Read was blunt.
“No, they don’t,” he said. “Because they don’t have the experiences or the evidence of it happening. They’ve been put there and coming out the other side. I don’t think so.”
Read then pointed to the Springboks as the benchmark.
“The South Africans have it. They definitely have it,” he said. “Because they’ve built this experience of games that are hard and have come through and won.”
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The former No 8 believes South Africa’s success is about more than simply staying calm under pressure.
“They’ve got an ability to know exactly who they are and exactly how they play,” he said. “So, it’s more than just a belief to come out of sticky situations. It’s a belief to know how you play the game.
“And the South Africans know exactly how to play the game. All Blacks right now probably don’t.”
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Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
The post Read pinpoints Bok advantage appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has identified what currently gives the Springboks the upper hand over their greatest rivals.
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