VIDEO: All bets are off in Auckland decider
All bets are off when the All Blacks and Springboks resume their rivalry this coming weekend.
New Zealand will take on South Africa in the Rugby Championship Round Two match at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday.
With the Rugby Championship being reduced from a six-match tournament to a three due to the World Cup later this year in France, the Round Two clash could be a title decider.
Knowing the magnitude of the encounter, both teams adopted very different strategies.
All Black coach Ian Foster opted to take his whole squad to Mendoza even though around a dozen were never going to play.
In contrast, the Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber decided to send a dozen first-choice players ahead to Auckland.
Nienaber’s side recorded a 43-12 win over Australia at Loftus Versfeld.
The decisions could be a major advantage for the Boks.
However, Foster is confident that his team will recover for Saturday’s clash.
And he placed emphasis on the team needing some quality time together.
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“We’ve adopted our strategy about bringing the whole squad here,” Foster said, adding: “We felt the time together was critical for us.
“South Africa had a different strategy.”
He added: “It’s always tricky. It’s like the old days of the Rugby Championship, where we used to go from Argentina and arrive in South Africa on a Saturday.
“We’ll acclimatise. It will be a bit different but the challenge is still the same.
“At the end of the day we will play at Mount Smart Stadium and all bets are off.”
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Lessons learned
The All Blacks scored seven tries in their 41-12 win over Argentina. The side dominated the proceeding, taking a 31-0 lead at the break.
“We lost the second half,” Foster said.
“We made a lot of tackles in the second half. We probably weren’t as efficient with some of our opportunities and couldn’t put them under sustained pressure.
“We’ve got to be diligent right through to the end.”
But overall, Foster felt the All Blacks were stepping in the right direction, especially with Saturday’s Test against the Springboks in mind.
He was delighted with the performance of the scrum. It had been a dominant feature of the game.
“I was proud of their work around the park and ball-carrying.
“I was impressed with them [props Ethan de Groot and Tyrell Lomax]. When you look at last year and the second half of the campaign, and they were starting to form their combination, we saw some massive growth, and the scrum became a real weapon by the end of the year.
“It was a good start and we really imposed ourselves against Argentina and it became a major psychological area for us.”
Source: @AllBlacks
