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The 'one difference' between Boks and the back-to-back All Blacks
By Ian Cameron
Former England captain Dylan Hartley has highlighted what he sees as the ‘one difference’ between South Africa’s back-to-back Rugby World Cup triumphs and the 2011 to 2015 All Blacks.
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The Springboks face a crestfallen England team tomorrow in Twickenham and are favourites to come away with the win after England lost to New Zealand and then Australia, with both matches coming down to the buzzer.
Hartley, who captained England to a Grand Slam under Eddie Jones, dismissed any leadership concerns within the squad and explained that the current team were simply missing a collective focus, intensity and understanding in key moments, which has cost them in matches against New Zealand and Australia.
On the challenge of the world champions, Hartley explained that England will be confident that they can get a result though he admitted that they’ll be hurting after the two defeats.
The 38-year-old reckons the current Boks squad is quite the same calibre as the All Blacks team that won the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups.
Hartley noted the All Blacks, led by legends like Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, were near-unbeatable between World Cups, while South Africa focuses on peaking during the tournament itself.
“The current South African team, back-to-back World Cup winners, much like the All Blacks. There’s one difference between this South Africa team and the All Blacks back-to-back World Cup winners.
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“The All Blacks seem to be far more dominant; I don’t know if the stats prove that, but it felt that they were unplayable in many instances in that period of back-to-backs World Cup wins. Conrad Smith, Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, that gang of guys, it seemed in between the World Cups they were so dominant, whereas I feel South Africa, and this might just be my perception, they dominated the World Cup, they turn up, they do the business, but in between they’re probably not as convincing as the All Blacks. That’s just my opinion.”
He praised South Africa’s achievement, stressing the current era’s heightened competition due to advances in global coaching and analytics. Hartley argued that comparing the two teams is unfair, as the game has evolved significantly since New Zealand’s 2011 and 2015 victories.
“What I do think is impressive, if we want to give the South Africa a pat on the back, is the fact that the game is so tight at the top now. When the All Blacks were doing their thing, there was quite a big disparity, a big gap between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were still light years ahead in the way that they were playing the game. Whereas with South Africa now, every national coach is travelling around the globe, everyone’s sharing knowledge, everyone understands the game in a more analytical way.
“I think it’s even more impressive that South Africa have won back-to-back when the competition’s actually got much better, and teams are far more competitive. The game’s different now. The game’s four years on, it’s eight years on, it keeps moving. The game’s different to what they were playing back in 2011 and 2015. To compare the two teams, the All Blacks and South Africa, from different eras of the game, I don’t think it’s very fair.”
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Hartley was talking to Prime Casino.
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I completely agree. Different eras and different teams with the laws much changed since then. They are both great teams that deserve respect.
Dylan Hartley got red carded in a final once for swearing at Wayne Barnes. Look it up on YouTube, it's quite funny.
Rassie has admitted the goal for SA need to be more consistent between RWC tournaments, and his goal of squad depth is a key part of that. NZ did not concede #1 ranking as SA has. Having said that, some of the period in question has been Covid disrupted, which would have impacted both results and development programs.
The main difference is that it was waaaaaay easier back then while the quality at the top end on the world rankings is much closer. One mustn't forget how Bryce Lawrence tactically decided to completely ignore refereeing the breakdown which opened the door for an Aussie win against SA at NZ home World Cup.. farcical. The other difference is that NZ won one (well - two) on home soil whilst the Boks won both away from home on the bounce having to play the top 4 sides to get there.. toughest route to glory.
Fully agree that Lawrence didn't alwats get it right at the breakdown in that QF game (and other areas of play such as players in front of the kicker). He allowed SA to crawl into rucks on all fours from anywhere, turned a blind eye to SA playing the ball on the ground and allowed SA to stick their hands in at the breakdown at will. A neutral referee would have resulted in a 21 - 6 winning scoreline for Australia. Simple as that.
Hey DP. Sounds like a compelling point; but checking shows that NZ and SA are the only home nations to win the Webb Ellis. Go figure - I would’ve thought the same as you. I wonder what that is about? Pressure? That host nations often were not in with a realistic chance that year?