‘We do want to play fast’: All Blacks double down on time-wasting tactics
SPOTLIGHT: All Blacks tour captain Codie Taylor believes referees will have a huge responsibility in determining the pace at which matches are played throughout the Greatest Rivalry series.
His comments come after head coach Dave Rennie said they would provide feedback to officials following their clash against the Stormers in Cape Town last Friday.
Rennie was asked about the pace of the match, and he said it’s become a trend in World Rugby for teams to slow down play either through line-outs or set pieces in a tactical way.
Leading up to Saturday’s clash against the Bulls in Pretoria, assistant coach Tana Umaga echoed Rennie’s sentiments, revealing that the All Blacks were ‘frustrated’ after the Sharks match and shared their desire to speed up the game.
The slowing down of play, either through scrums, line-outs or injuries, has been a growing topic since the All Blacks arrived in South Africa.
It will most definitely continue to gain traction with the first Test of the series against the Springboks looming on August 22.
Codie Taylor shared his opinion on the hot topic, adding that the All Blacks will have to find ways to manage other teams’ tactics.
“We’re well aware that the game is a lot slower,” he told Rugby365.
“And we do want to play fast; there’s no hiding from that, and there’s no hiding from the opposite either. It will probably fall back on the referees.
“You don’t want the game to be sped up if there’s a genuine injury, but for the sake of rugby, you want it to be an entertaining game and play some footy and not slow it down.
“And we’re doing the game justice as well; we’re doing justice for our fans. That’s the type of game we want to play, and we’ll just have to manage that accordingly.”
Taylor will make his first appearance of the tour after recovering from a calf injury he sustained against Ireland in the Nations Championship.
The 35-year-old is relishing facing a decent Bulls pack and expects Johan Ackermann’s side to be physical.
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From a scrum point of view, Taylor admits the All Blacks are yet to find their mojo in that department but is optimistic they will be competitive in the first Test.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he added.
“But we are building nicely; I thought we built nicely in that Sharks game.
“We’re under no illusion because South Africa is going to be another level. As All Blacks, we pride ourselves on our scrum too.
“But South Africa have earned the right to probably be the most dominant scrum in the world at the moment.
“We’ve just got to keep chipping away and keep working on combinations, and we’ll be alright once we get into the Tests.”
Taylor will form the All Blacks front row with Tyrel Lomax and Xavier Numia, and they’ll come up against Francois Klopper, Juann Else, and Alu Tshakweni of the Bulls.
The Bulls will also have the services of Springbok duo Elrigh Louw and Johan Grobbelaar after they were released from the Bok camp.
Taylor believes the clash will be a real test for his side.
“South Africa have big boys upfront; they back their set piece, they back their kicking game, and when they get what they want, they can open you up.
“Physically, it’s going to be very demanding upfront in the scrum and maul. South Africa pride themselves on it from the national team to their club sides, so we’ve got to turn up.”
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