- By Henry Lee, AUT journalism student
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and his staff know that their players will have to give their best if they want to achieve anything against the world champion Springboks.
Here are some tactical questions before the series:
Physical demands on scrum, lane and attack group
A dynamic and destructive springbok pack is ready to take on its greatest rivals.
All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan knows only too well the challenges his strikers face.
He made his first appearances as striker coach for the All Blacks two years ago in South Africa.
On this occasion, Ryan changed the attacking group and, within a few weeks of training, solidified the team’s lineout defence and scrum.
Not many have proven that it is possible to defeat the Springboks pack in South Africa and the question remains whether the All Blacks’ strikers are up to the task.
The scrum has improved significantly under Ryan’s leadership and now allows them to gain an advantage over most teams in set pieces.
An effective scrum can take the pressure off your own half, force teams into corners and wear down the opposition’s attacking group.
You’d think Robertson would stay in the front row with Tamaiti Williams and Tyrel Lomax as the All Blacks absolutely annihilated Argentina in the scrum.
Standing at 6ft 5in and weighing 145kg, Williams brings physicality to set pieces and uses his ball-carrying skills to get the All Blacks attacking beyond the winline.
The Springboks are likely to rely on their tried and tested line-up of six forwards and two defenders to generate power and impact from the bench.
The ever-reliable combination of Ox Nche and Frans Malherbe will likely start again to counter Williams’ size and Lomax’s scrum expertise.
Codie Taylor has once again demonstrated his accurate throwing skills this year, but will need to be almost perfect as Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Ruan Nortje will constantly have to counter the All Blacks’ throws.
Barring further injuries, captain Scott Barrett will return to lineout duties, adding to Barrett’s growing list of key roles.
Set-piece execution needs to go a step further under Robertson than what we have seen so far, as Rassie Erasmus’ team’s ability to disrupt and unsettle the opposition is among the best in the business.
Can the All Blacks stop the Springboks’ relentless advance? Will our scum hold up? All legitimate questions until the All Blacks’ new regime proves otherwise.
Inside-out rush defense answer:
Since the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand in 2017, it seems as if the rush defence strategy has never really been mastered.
Ireland has tormented the All Blacks in 2022, exerting unbearable pressure on the first and second receivers.
South Africa’s wingers and midfielders have achieved breathtaking line speed in recent matches, restricting the All Blacks’ time and space.
And then there is England, who recently proved that this tactic can still disrupt the new All Blacks team under Robertson.
So how will the All Blacks create chances despite limited time and space?
The small chip kick from behind has been a threat lately, with Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett being the receivers behind the rushing defensive line.
The most important question, however, is the contact surface, which the All Blacks must master if they want to have a chance on this tour.
They will rely on Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Jordie and Scott Barrett, their strongest ball carriers, to put pressure on the outside of the defensive line.
Height here, contact point there, but if the All Blacks don’t cross the gain line, the rush defence problems will continue.
Loose striker balance
When you think back to the best All Blacks teams of all time, you are struck by the tremendous quality of the forward trio in all of those teams, with players like McCaw, Read, Kronfeld, Jones and Kaino.
The current trio consisting of vice-captain Ardie Savea in position 8, Dalton Papalii as blindside flanker and Ethan Blackadder as openside flanker has hardly established itself as a dominant loose forward trio.
Some have called for the return of Ardie Savea as blindside flanker, as questions remain about Papalii’s international impact.
Robertson has consistently talked about the players being good on both sides of the ball, something that Papali’i may need to work on, having struggled to assert himself in Tests with the ball in hand or at the ruck.
They may also be considering signing 96-Test veteran Sam Cane, who came on as a substitute in the final half hour of Argentina’s second Test.
Robertson can rely on Cane’s experience, whether on the bench or in the starting line-up, and the All Blacks will need all his wisdom in Johannesburg.
Ethan Blackadder, son of former All Black Todd, is a workhorse on the park and prides himself on his strong ball handling, but has never really taken his chances.
Blackadder has improved over time, but these South African Tests impress with their quality throughout the entire 80 minutes.
Others believed that successful Chiefs player Samipeni Finau was the answer to the ongoing search for an equivalent to Jerome Kaino.
But he too has been overlooked in recent weeks and with TMO interventions at an all-time high, Robertson may fear that Finau’s discipline is not yet up to test standard.
In South Africa, the All Blacks need big lineout options to match the size and physical strength of the Springboks led by Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Ruan Nortje.
Rassie Erasmus’s side have a wealth of options at their disposal in the lineout, and Jason Ryan and Scott Robertson will have to take all of this into account when selecting their 23-man matchday squad.
The fact that Hoskins Sotutu was not on the field would always have been surprising, especially now, after some disappointing performances by the All Blacks.
His ability to break tackles and score tries may have been missed in the opening Tests of 2024.
Given the turmoil caused by the sacking of assistant coach Leon MacDonald from the All Blacks coaching staff, Rassie Erasmus’ team smells blood.
The All Blacks are getting better with time, but the new regime will hope they don’t take a step backwards this week.
The first Test of the two-match tour takes place this Sunday at 3am NZT at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.
The second game of the tour takes place a week later in Cape Town.
