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Kieran Read's 'key' for All Blacks revenge over Springboks
By Ned Lester
A Rugby World Cup final rematch beckons at the altitude of Johannesburg’s infamous Ellis Park, and the All Blacks are coming into the contest with plenty to prove according to a team legend.
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The Springboks await in what will be the two nations’ first clash since the one-point thriller that crowned the South Africans back-to-back world champions in Paris last October. A lot has changed in the 10 months since.
The Kiwis are under new leadership and finding their feet in new structures and systems, and it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing under Scott Robertson’s new vision.
Two scrappy wins over England and a loss to Argentina have left plenty of room for concern over how quickly the All Blacks can find their rhythm and just how high their ceiling is after a relatively poor run of results during the last World Cup cycle.
127-cap former All Black Kieran Read says with the little room for error there is against the world champs, New Zealand will need to be on top of their game.
“That’s a huge Test. The key that I’ve seen over these five Tests is we’ve probably only just got our mindset right,” the 38-year-old told The Breakdown. “It’s been a little bit up and down, probably trying to figure out a lot of things with the new coaches and new systems.
“But going into a big Test match, especially against South Africa over there, you just can’t be thinking of too much else other than being as physically dominant as you can.
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“So, essentially that’s what I think the leaders will be talking about, making sure they get a performance that showcases their physicality like what we saw last night.
“But 100 per cent they’re going to need that because what we’ve seen from the Boks so far this year against Ireland and those two Tests against the Wallabies, is that they’re not going away, they’re not shirking those traditional methods of coming hard at you in the physical battle.”
Read, who succeeded Richie McCaw as New Zealand captain in 2016, says while Robertson will be ready to set the tone for the Kiwis ahead of the first South Africa Test, it’s the leaders within the playing group who should take that responsibility and run with it.
The All Blacks have also produced two big wins so far in 2024, beating Fiji by 42 points in San Diego and bouncing back to beat Los Pumas by 32 in round two of The Rugby Championship. While the latter offers the team some momentum heading into the South Africa Tests, Read says there’s still a long way to go for this team.
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“I don’t think they’ve played their best footy yet, it’s probably been a long way off. Last night they got it right for 40 minutes and it really came about through some simple things done right, like kicking game. The Argies were just slightly off and it shows that you’ve got to be right on every game.
“There’s no concern but I think what they’ll have to get right playing against South Africa is the way they defend. South Africa, yes they’re going to come at us through the maul, so our maul defence has got to be strong; it probably hasn’t been the strongest this year so far. And then, our ability to turnover ball, to defend across the park and stop their momentum, stop their gain line.
“That’s what the Argies did, they managed to get on top of us a few times, the English did that as well earlier in the year.”
All that I hope for are two great test matches. No blowouts and no cards. Just two teams going at it and may the best team on the day win.
Same here. It's going to be awesome as it always is between the 2 powerhouses.
A neutral team of officials would see a less than best NZ team destroy SA based on current form. Sadly for true rugby union supporters that isn't going to happen.
You've gotta think Sth Africa are primed and ready, so should not only start favourites but should win the first match up. We'll find out alot about ourselves and will come out of the first game knowing if we have what it takes to win the second.
Whatever happens, we'll be alot better off for the rest of the season.
Go the ABs.
Yes, the Boks most likely is the favorites and that is not how it will be. Between these 2 teams it's always great games. There will be no blow outs and anything can happen. They go hard at it and then they party hard after the game. I hope for 2 wins for the Boks, but it most likely will be shared 1-1 between the 2. No one is running over any of these 2 teams. Always attracts the biggest and best crowds.
We as South African's always worry about the AB's......and for some reason they never have a bad game against us.....
Foster's ABs put 50 points on Argentina after losing in the previous encounter so no point getting gung-ho about everything being set.
SA are confident and at home but that is often when they are most vulnerable. Again, Foster won when no one predicted it and the axe was poised but that win, along with player support, helped Foster kept his job.
By contast, Robertson has received ongoing support from NZR, the rugby press and many social commentors. Expectations are high.
Not backing Razor after that Puma shocker but he’s had five matches
Foster had four years with multiple losses
I don’t feel like we are going to have any gauge on what this ABs side is capable of until after the 2nd bok test.
That Wellington performance was horrific, and Argentina didn’t offer any sort of resistance a week later although the All Blacks were still very, very good.
Boks are where it’s at. More importantly, Boks at Ellis park is the Mecca of rugby.
A win there is solid currency.
I think Erasmus will use the Irish result in Durban to expunge complacency.
I noticed that the Boks themselves had an issue with fitness/altitude during the first Irish test after about 50 minutes. They just started kicking, and Ireland ran ni a couple of tries. Long phases of tiring attack by NZ might force SA to resort to a more conservative game if they are blowing hard.
Altitude and the new rules may suit the more aerobically fit team. Ireland played poorly but were fitter in Pretoria and should have stolen the game over it.
When NZ real focus on dismantling an opposition they are best in my opinion.