VIDEO: John Kirwan: 'Don't believe Rassie'
SPOTLIGHT: All Blacks legend John Kirwan dismissed any claims that the All Blacks are the favourites heading into the second Test of the Greatest Rivalry series at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
Kirwan faced a media scrum on Friday afternoon in Cape Town and spoke about the rivalry between the old foes and what he expects both sides to bring to the party.
Despite the All Blacks sealing a convincing 33-16 win at Ellis Park last weekend, Kirwan dismissed any claims that the world’s new No.1 team enters the Cape Town Test as favourites.
“Never! Don’t believe Rassie [Erasmus]. They are four-time world champions; they’ve been an outstanding team the last couple of years.
“They are world champions, and we are the underdogs.”
The Kiwi legend elaborated on his view of what both sides will bring and stated that the result will come down to key moments in the match.
“You’ll see their [Springboks’] 100 percent DNA, but the thing I love about this All Blacks team as a New Zealander and as a supporter, we feel connected to them because of the way they play.
“What I’ve seen is that this All Blacks side is playing a style of rugby that I feel suits our skill set and the type of athletes that we have.
“There will be moments in the game where it will be like a boxing match. They’ll win some rounds, and we’re going to win some rounds.
“At this level, winning those critical moments is really important; sometimes they come after five minutes, sometimes they come after 79 minutes.
“And for those moments, I think it will be incredibly close and come down to a few points.”
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Kirwan added that he expects the Boks to grind out the match and try and keep the pressure on the visitors, but reiterated that the pressure will be on South Africa to level the series ahead of the clash at FNB Stadium next weekend.
“That’s what we’re here for [a series win]. The Springboks will be way better, although I do feel they’ll be a bit more conservative.
“Their in-field kicking game will be different, so I expect them to try and pin us inside our own half.
“But I also feel that this group of All Blacks will be better. These guys are on a journey to be better every week.
“It will be a massive game; the pressure is on the world champions, and I’m sure they’ll step up to that, so there will be a lot of fireworks.”
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A fast start
The inaugural World Cup winner emphasised the importance of a fast start for both teams and compared the game of rugby to a chess match.
“They say in rugby you need to win the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes before halftime, the first 10 minutes after halftime and the same at the closing stages of the match,” Kirwan told Rugby365.
“There will be moments, and as a player, it’s really important to start fast and try to imprint the way you want to play on the opposition.
“The Springboks will try to do the same. I spoke to someone recently who does not know anything about rugby and asked me to explain it to him in layman’s terms.
“I told him it’s like chess with contact, so it will be a chess game out there tactically. As I said, the South Africans will be different, and we’ll be better as well.”
