Springboks shift gears for first Test against unbeaten All Blacks
· The South African
The All Blacks have got better and better as Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series has gone on, with a hard-fought win over the Stormers followed by resounding victories against the Sharks and Bulls, but now the real business of Test match rugby against the Springboks lies ahead.
The teams will play four back-to-back Tests against New Zealand, starting with Saturday’s encounter at Ellis Park (22 August), before moving to Cape Town for the second Test at the DHL Stadium (29 August), the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (5 September), and concluding the series at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (12 September).
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All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has acknowledged that it will be a whole different ball game next weekend after brushing aside the Bulls 50-19 on Saturday.
“We know that the intensity level, the quality that we’re going to come up against next week is, you know, three, four, fivefold,” Rennie said. “We’ve played reasonably well on tour and we know we need to up the ante.
“It was almost like we were training for the Springboks, the Bulls were coming a lot harder defensively,” he added. “Look, it’s good for us. We’ve now got a game at altitude, guys have got an appreciation for that. I thought we worked really hard in those circumstances and will be better for it.”
All signs point to a very competitive Test series between the Springboks and All Blacks
Bok hooker Johan Grobbelaar and utility forward Elrigh Louw, who were released to play for the Bulls in their RGR match against the All Blacks on Saturday evening, will rejoin the national squad on Sunday.
The opening Test match kicks off at 17:10 this Saturday, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
“We are pleased that the players are well recovered and ready to give everything for the forthcoming Tests against the All Blacks,” said Rassie Erasmus.
“It will undoubtedly be a very challenging tournament, but we are looking forward to it as a collective. This series is almost like playing the knock-out stages of a Rugby World Cup because we are facing one of the world’s best week in and week out, and we all understand the magnitude of the RGR series.
“It’s a new and exciting challenge, and we have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the group of coaches and players who remained behind in South Africa in the last two weeks, so we will finetune the areas of our game, which we would like to improve next week as we get ready to take the field.”
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry fixtures and results
Saturday, 12 September: Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, United States – 23:00 (SA time)
Friday, 7 August: Stormers 21-38 New Zealand, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Tuesday, 11 August: Sharks 0-54 New Zealand, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Saturday, 15 August: Bulls 19-50 New Zealand, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria – 19:00
Saturday, 22 August: First Test, Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 17:10
Tuesday, 25 August: Lions vs New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 19:00
Saturday, 29 August: Second Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – 17:10
Saturday, 5 September: Third Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg – 17:10