All Blacks brace for forward assault
17 Aug 2011
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen is expecting the Springboks to employ the same subdue and conquer strategy that proved so effective in 2009.
Bok coach Peter de Villiers has selected a number of powerful ball-carriers for Saturday’s clash, as well as breakdown supremo Heinrich Brussow. De Villiers has also reinstated halfbacks Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn, whose kicking prowess proved instrumental in the Boks’ 2009 Tri-Nations triumph.
The game has moved on since 2009, as the Boks discovered in 2010. Nevertheless, De Villiers is hoping that the return of Brussow and Du Preez will allow them to revisit these tactics and enjoy similar success.
Speaking to a media scrum in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, Hansen said the All Blacks were wary of the Bok pack ahead of the clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. According to the All Blacks forwards coach, the Boks’ intentions have been made clear through these specific selections.
‘They’ll certainly have a big ball-carrier in Willem Alberts, he’s a real big hitter,’ said Hansen. ‘Bismarck du Plessis will bring a lot to the Boks, if he’s not the top hooker in the world, he’s one of the top two or three. He’s great over the ball, just like Andrew Hore, he’s good at making turnovers. He’s a strong scrummager like John Smit, probably a bit more mobile though. [South Africa] are very fortunate to have both of those players, as we are to have two great hookers in our squad.
‘They’ve gone for a very big pack. I expect they’ll try and beat us up up front and then the selection of Morne Steyn suggests they’ll play an aerial game.’
A weakened Bok side was hammered in Wellington last month, and the visiting scrum was particularly susceptible. It was a problem area for many of the South African teams in the recent Super Rugby competition, and nobody would have forgotten the pounding an all-Bok Sharks front-row sustained at the hands of the Crusaders in that play-off in Nelson.
Gurthro Steenkamp hasn’t played much rugby since returning from injury, and CJ van der Linde has had a disappointing season with the Stormers. Hansen, however, believes the Boks will be better prepared this time around.
‘They definitely won’t have a problem keeping the scrum up, and the fact that they selected more forwards [De Villiers has included three front-rankers on the bench] suggests that they’re going to have a crack at us in that area.
‘I don’t think you can read too much into the first two Tests of the Boks’ campaign because it wasn’t this [first-choice] team. They made a conscious decision to rest some of the players and probably rightly so. How do you judge the team that played against the Wallabies last week? Well most of that group hadn’t played for eight weeks, so taking that into account, I think they went particularly well.
‘They’re running their own course and good on them. The World Cup is the most important thing this year, and they decided early on that the Tri-Nations wasn’t their tournament. They’re brought in a lot of experience [since returning for the two games in South Africa] and the changes they’ve made for the coming game are probably to see if the new guys can fit in around the more senior players.’
After this Test, both teams will begin their final preparations for the World Cup, and if everything goes according to plan, the All Blacks could host the Boks in a World Cup semi-final on 16 October.
Because of their record at past tournaments, Hansen said the All Blacks won’t take anything for granted at the 2011 competition. They bowed out of the 2007 World Cup after losing to France in the quarter-finals, and it’s because of this failure that Hansen refused to entertain any talk about a potential semi-final meeting with the Boks.
‘I think we’ve got to worry about the quarter-final, because if you don’t win that game, you don’t advance to the semis,’ he said. ‘We learned that last time.’
By Jon Cardinelli, in Port Elizabeth
333 Comments
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17 Aug 2011, 16:39 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-294: usapho wam wonke bapavela iABs, ndakula kunjalo ekhaya. Ngoku andivi nto tu kandi bukhele amabokoboko, also ndi bukele le nonsense bayi dlalayo ndi nga funi niks kubo.
17 Aug 2011, 16:41 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-295:
yeah Aaron McKie was Sixthman of the yr that year,Dikembe tried to suppress Shaq but Diesel was WAY too powerful back then.Hack-a-Shaq might have hurt his numbers but didnt hurt his influence or winning championships.He was utterly dominant.
@cane(cane)-292:
Dont know 2 different games but fact of the matter is they have better athletes,genetically gifted.So if they were conditioned to play the game itd be night and day really.
17 Aug 2011, 16:42 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-300: bwahahaha all 300 pounds of him yoh
17 Aug 2011, 16:43 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-297: yayi ngekho idemocracy ngoko! iTimer liyakhu xelela uba uzakhu pavela bani, njeba umzabalazo eshushu ngoko bendi ngena chance uba ndi pavela amabokoboko, never!
17 Aug 2011, 16:45 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-303: Bekker would look like the short lock, super thin lock. Shaq’s skills in the lineout would make Victor Matfield’s efforts look childish. LoL
17 Aug 2011, 16:45 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-301: knew it
uRossoneri ngokunjalo naye.
17 Aug 2011, 16:49 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-299:
Yeah ngiyakuzwa. I lived there as a laaitie in the mid 90′s,in Connecticut.Use to go watch the Huskies play ball and Notre Dame football from time to time.But those okes where MASSIVE.
i saw Dante Culpepper a few yrs back in 2008 when I went to visit Florida/DisneyWorld….Jeeeessseeessss!!!! Dude is ridiculous and he is a QB???sshhhhiiiittttttt!!!
17 Aug 2011, 16:52 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-306: Ndinga bethwa ekhaya uba ndike nda nxiba ifele ye mabokoboko! Umama wam agandi jikela ngoku. Hlambi andinikhe itshitsha gou!
17 Aug 2011, 16:55 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-305:
Hahaha to be fair though Shaq isnt the standard,Bekker now would be comparible to Dirk Nowitzki,even bigger arguably size wise.
But think Jonah Lomu…As a running back he would have owned a few people,with better conditioning he would have been a phenom even there..At 6’6 120kg….with that speed,very few football players have that type of package.
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-304:
Hahahaha lmao,ok i understand.Fair enough
17 Aug 2011, 16:56 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-307: I spent some time at school in San Francisco as a kid, and I’d go watch the 49ers, boy I’ve never seen anything like that. At the time I thought Northern Transvaal and Province forwards were huge, until I saw these guys, your Malan Geldenhuys ( I think that was his name) etc., just looked ordinary.
17 Aug 2011, 16:59 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-309: Lomu with his stats would be impressive in football, no arguments there. He’d have to improve his explosiveness off the mark, he was already explosive but with more tweaking he’d be devastating.
17 Aug 2011, 17:04 pm
…
17 Aug 2011, 17:04 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-310:
Ya i bet,that was before my time.How long were you over there? Because it seems like you were there for a while,am suprised you still have impressive control of your vernacular.Me it was only 2 years then back in SA by 95′ but even when we were there my old lady didnt want English to be spoken a lot in the house so we spoke isiZulu like 80% of the time.She never wanted us to lose that.
American kids would looks at us so fckd up when we spoke hahaha! When I’d play ball when upset id swear nesiZulu and theyd be like SAY WHAT? hahaha
17 Aug 2011, 17:05 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-311:
TRUE
17 Aug 2011, 17:06 pm
This new mobi site is awesome, well done keo! Would be nice if I can select on a specific post to reply but this much better
17 Aug 2011, 17:12 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-313: My dad went to HBS in Cambridge for his MBA, thereafter always wanted us to go the States on holiday since I was 7, thereafter, I did 8th Grade at a school in San Francisco and after high school at St. Andrew’s enrolled into Dartmouth for my undergraduate work and then I went to New Jersey later for my post-grad. IsiXhosa sam simbi mfodini ngamanye amaxhesha omalume wam bathi aba ndivi!
17 Aug 2011, 17:17 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-311:
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-313: mama always knows whats best
gotta dash fellas, ibimnandi lencoko/lenkulumo
okumhlophe.
17 Aug 2011, 17:22 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-316:
oh, on the question of fran’s scrum cap..yes i thought so too…but then he took it off for his penalty and i saw his head of hair and facial pubes….sshitballs! the frogs really strum their guitars to ‘another’ tune i telll you…..
17 Aug 2011, 17:23 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-313: he is right mshini, his isiXhosa is shocking
17 Aug 2011, 17:25 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-317: Hamba ngoxholo Transie, indlela imbemhlope boy.
17 Aug 2011, 17:26 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-319: LoL
17 Aug 2011, 17:29 pm
@we have it on good authority that on september 11, a legend will rise…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-318: Someone mentioned on another thread on Keo that Steyn proved his fitness and pace when he made an assist tackle near the Bok tryline. I on the other hand am fortunate enough to have PVR with the slow motion feature, if you pay close attention you’ll notice a certain furry character gnashing away on the over growth right under the poles. They say the high grass is a great digestive!
17 Aug 2011, 17:43 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-322:
yeah, the guy needs a sshit, shave and a shower for sure.
although if i had to choose i’d rather he los tthe weight and kept the beard.
17 Aug 2011, 18:00 pm
@we have it on good authority that on september 11, a legend will rise…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-323: You know, I’ve never had a favourable leaning towards him, however the least he could do is look presentable. He needs to lose weight first and foremost, he should never wear a scrum cap again he looks like a solid prop, quite silly actually. He must be fired forthwith, this is ridiculous.
17 Aug 2011, 18:30 pm
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-268:
Did you know Jay Fiedler?
17 Aug 2011, 20:13 pm
QB for the dolphins.
17 Aug 2011, 20:13 pm
What of Fielder?
17 Aug 2011, 21:01 pm
Optiplay @ 83
Answer:- Buck Shelford. Unbeaten AB Captain – a better Captain and player than Smit (IMO) – was dumped unceremoniously prior to 1991 RWC.
The ABs lost and the replacement Captain, G.Whetton, was an unpopular choice.
Smit wouldnt have survived as Captain in NZ. Where Zinny was the player to supercede Buck as the better all-round player, Bizzy is far superior to Lord Lardy. But as was proved with Whetton as Captain, you still need a Leader who the team will follow through brick walls. I have never seen a better AB Captain than Buck.
17 Aug 2011, 21:10 pm
Pops @ 90
going to a RWC with only 4 loosies would be complete madness, I hope yr wrong, the attrition rate will be huge come knockouts.
17 Aug 2011, 21:27 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-328: Thanks. Maybe not the right timing to drop your captain(we saw that with Teichmann in 1999).But he should have been dropped after last years shocking performances.I just feel you guys have got it right. Play a player on form.That does not mean the player is forgotten when you drop him.But he has to earn his place.
A spinoff from this is the following. A young player will say to himself”why should I stay here or what difference does it make if I play well .My slot is taken for the next 4 years” NOT GOOD. for overall building.
17 Aug 2011, 23:21 pm
Izzy Dagg:-
“They love to kick it and we love to run it. So they can kick it as much as they want,” he smiled at the prospect of what might be in store.
17 Aug 2011, 23:27 pm
@optiplay(optiplay)-330:
Blame Krusty, arrogant piece of trash-talking poo. Krusty took the job promising all sorts of fantasy-rugby from the Boks. It soon became apparent that his coaching skills didnt quite match his ambition and thereby he retained the status quo to save face. Opposition coaches are always the target of the fans ire but Krusty and his co-horts have taken disrespect, not just for the opposition but also for the Game of Rugby Union itself, to all previously-unscaled new heights.
Smit should have gone after Hamilton’09. He knows it, G10 knows it, King Skop knows it. And Im sure, beneath the joke-mo’ facade, even Krusty knows it too.
18 Aug 2011, 01:02 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-327:
An icon at Dartmouth as the Ivy League best QB, and a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and Dragon Senior Society at Dart.
Just wonder, how come you didn’t know that?
You know the story about innocent US guys during WWII who were executed in Bastonge because they didn’t know who Babe Ruth was?
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