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How All Blacks plan to foil Springboks stalling tactics

(Photo by AAP Image/Darren England / www.photosport.nz)

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea says he may have to “put pressure” on the referee in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash with South Africa to prevent the world champions from slowing the game with stoppages.

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Jordie Barrett’s late penalty earned the All Blacks a 19-17 win over the Springboks last weekend that ensured they reclaimed the trophy with a fifth victory in a row.

The Springboks have been widely criticised for their conservative, tactical-kicking game plan, but former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says the “elephant in the room” is stoppages.

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All Blacks prop Joe Moody said earlier this week he hoped the officials would do more to stop South Africa interrupting the flow of the game after the Springboks forwards frequently sought medical attention during the contest in Townsville.

“I have just got to put pressure on the referee in, I guess, a better way and demand a little bit more,” said Savea, who is serving as stand-in captain in the absence of Sam Whitelock.

“It’s out of our hands when the medical team is on the field and they’re saying they need to check up on him.

“There’s not much myself or the referee could do in those situations. All we can do as a team is not get frustrated. We just have to adapt and adjust like we did last week.”

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English referee Matthew Carley is in charge of Saturday’s game.

Deans told New Zealand news service Stuff there was nothing wrong with the Springboks’ kick first and often approach.

“The elephant in the room in this discussion, to be honest, is not so much the method,” Deans said.

“Last week was a great contest; the issue was the ball out-of-play.

“That is the issue that needs to be addressed by the powers that be. You can blame the adjudicators, or the people assessing them, but the flow in the game is gone. There are too many stoppages, and you spend too long looking at the screen.’

“There is no provision for that,” added Deans. “If there’s blood (on a player), you go off. And you call their bluff when they are just taking a breather. If it happens again ‘sorry, you are off, and we carry on’.’

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“It is all manageable.”

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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