@machpants said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
There is also a premium article on Rugbypass, pointing out similar errors. In addition, the lack of growth in attacking plays, with the same plays that were used Vs Fiji& Oz, also used Vs boks. Not only that, they've been around since the Hansen era
The try mentioned is the Savea one, which was just saying beaudy brilliance, and not a set play
The try highlighted the possibilities for the All Blacks had they schemed deliberately for what they were facing, instead of rolling out Foster’s same old menu and trying to take on the Springboks in areas of strength like the maul.
Based on their two games against the Springboks, Rennie and his staff looked far superior to the All Blacks brains trust when it came to game planning for the world champions.
They tailored their game to the opposition to attack the weaknesses, whereas the All Blacks naively went brazenly forward trying to attack South Africa’s strengths and it backfired.
This should be a key lesson for Foster’s All Blacks moving forward. In the organised parts of the game, they cannot change the pieces performing the roles, run the same plays against everyone and expect them to work.
There needs to be some flexibility there and more thought into the process.
The fact that they were running the same starter play with McKenzie on the left wing showed a certain level of naivety that, to no surprise, blew up.
In tight test matches where counter-attacking opportunities dry up, the All Blacks will need to have a clinical set-piece attacking plan which, at times, needs to be adjusted for the opposition.
They might have the most attacking talent in the world, but they still need decent plans to be devised to help them get the match-ups and space they need to let their skills shine.
You cannot roll up and play the same against Fiji as you do against the Springboks and expect to win handsomely.
It could work, or it could just as easily blow up like it did twice in the Rugby Championship..
Sorry to go back to this ...
Fair enough the Boks were up in our faces, brutal, energetic rugged commonsense rugby with some nicely worked out tries, pinpointed our weakest players, Vermeulen was again very good but very good at key moments (so, great player), their locks are bigger and tougher than before and quite frankly Taylor went into his shell after his miscatch, DMac and Havili and Richie were pounced on, they just don't have the mass, Patty T is a turnover waiting to happen, and Scotty B made yet more little stupid yellow coloured mistakes in front of the ref. I don't think he is a journeyman, just a solid international quality hardworking lock with brain fades at key moments.
But we lack a hardworking hardnosed lock when Sammy W. is not there (and he is more an all-round hardworking good lock with great rugby brain rather than a hard bugger) and BBBR was still working back to his physically dominant self (but not in this match).
Loosies: I thought Akira was generally ok, Savea was good, it was at 8 that a forward went missing. When Blackadder came on he was up in their faces and battled. So I am still surprised, what the hell happened to LJ, where was he? I saw him standing behind rucks and a bit after halftime but nothing dominant, nothing much to see.
I wonder if we still have a key problem at 8 as well.
I don't blame the coaches too much (apart, as the article rightly says, not targetting opposition weaknesses). but they should have realized DH would be targetted at 12, there is little point in DMac against the ABs if there are 2 10s (and you want JB on as long as possible, he was great again), but at midfield, we lacked dominance we lacked impact, and we lacked imagination. And Samisoni is clearer better for this sort of game than Asafo.
Shout out to wings, I thought they played well. But we really have depth problems at lock and selection issues in the midfield. We were lucky the Boks persist with Pollard and Le Roux and can't get Steyn to full game fitness. He looks like a truckstop diner not a deft placement kicker but boy can he get them key territory.
I thought the ref missed neck rolls/high tackles, offsides at rucks, general offsides and so forth but hey it was what it was. We had an off night and they had an on night.
I thought we were outcoached as well, their bench timing was great again.
