Springboks All Blacks Rugby Championship

Despite injury concerns and uncertainty over their coach, bookmakers are still backing the All Blacks to claim Rugby Championship glory. Photo: Gallo Images

Mallett: All Blacks don’t have the balance to beat Springboks

Former Springboks coach Nick Mallett has pinpointed the key areas where South Africa should crucially get the better of New Zealand.

Springboks All Blacks Rugby Championship

Despite injury concerns and uncertainty over their coach, bookmakers are still backing the All Blacks to claim Rugby Championship glory. Photo: Gallo Images

The Springboks are set to face the All Blacks in a blockbuster double-header in the first half of August, with New Zealand coming off the back of a humbling series defeat against Ireland, while South Africa clinched a 2-1 series win over Wales.

New Zealand coach Ian Foster insisted on Friday he can still turn around the fortunes of the misfiring All Blacks, as he resisted calls to drop Sam Cane as captain for the Rugby Championship after a historic home series defeat.

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There have been serious question marks hanging over the balance and quality of the current All Blacks squad, and while Foster is also under immense pressure, he has suggested “we have a plan to play a brand of rugby against South Africa that New Zealanders will be proud of.”

In a column for Sport24, though, Nick Mallett has suggested the current All Blacks would struggle to compete with the Springboks when it came to the all-important scrum battle.

“New Zealand don’t have a dominant scrum. In all their competitions, they are using the scrum to launch a strike, not to win penalties. The props who play for the New Zealand franchises are generally good ball players who handle well and make good cleanouts and decisions.

“Scrummaging is something they obviously concentrate on, but not to the extent where they want to win penalties. It’s about winning the ball under reasonable circumstances and then playing the phases. When they play a team like South Africa, it’s a completely different situation because the Boks don’t want to move the ball from the scrum, they want to win a penalty from the scrum. Have New Zealand got two tightheads and looseheads capable of lasting 80 minutes against the South African pack? I don’t believe they have. 

“Once you give scrum penalties away against the Boks, that sets up their whole territorial game. They kick for touch, they maul off lineouts and put teams and referees under immense pressure there. The ability to stop South Africa playing decent rugby starts at scrum time where you have to stop them winning penalties, and I’m not sure that New Zealand can do that given how they struggled against Ireland. I think when you look at the front row power the Springboks have on the bench in every Test, this is a clear area of advantage.

“At lock, Brodie Retallick is irreplaceable and world-class, and missing him is huge. He will be replaced by a competent lock, but not of the international quality of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager. South Africa have so much quality in the tight five, and the All Blacks just don’t match up there. New Zealand’s loose trio is made up of openside flankers and mobile No 8s, and Ardie Savea is the best of the bunch. He should be playing openside in place of Sam Cane, in my opinion, who I don’t think is playing well enough to justify his position in the side even if he is a good captain. 

“They also need to get a ball-carrying No 8 and a big ruck-hitting blindside flanker, and also look for a guy of 6ft4, 6ft5 as a lineout option who would have stopping power against South Africa’s ball carriers. I’m not sure they have that physicality when they field three fetcher-like players who are quite small when compared to South Africa. New Zealand have a lot of guys coming onto the field who all look the same to me, and there is nobody really standing out.”

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SPRINGBOKS’ RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES:

Saturday, 6 August: Springboks v New Zealand – Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, 17:05

Saturday, 13 August: Springboks v New Zealand – Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 17:05

Saturday, 27 August: Springboks v Australia – Adelaide Oval, 07:30

Saturday, 3 September: Springboks v Australia – Allianz Stadium, 11:35

Saturday, 17 September: Springboks v Argentina – Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires, 21:10

Saturday, 24 September: Springboks v Argentina – Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban, 17:05

All Blacks squad:

Dane Coles, Samisoni Taukeiaho, Codie Taylor, Aidan Ross, George Bower,  Nepo Laulala, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Ethan de Groot, Angus Ta’avao, Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Patrick Tuipulotu, Tupou Vaa’i, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane (capt), Shannon Frizell, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Ardie Savea, Hoskins Sotutu, Finlay Christie, Folau Fakatava, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga, Stephen Perofeta, Jack Goodhue, David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Will Jordan, Sevu Reece

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