The All Blacks have ramped up the war of words ahead of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, continuing to claim that South African teams want to slow down play against them.
The tactic, which was started by All Black coach Dave Rennie last weekend ahead of the Sharks game, was repeated by his assistant coach Tana Umaga in a call to New Zealand media ahead of the Vodacom Bulls game this Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.
The tourists make no bones about the fact they want to play a fast-paced game, and while mind games ahead of the series were always expected, it is clear they are targeting this ahead of the four tests against the Springboks and hoping to influence the match officials in the process.
The same match officials who have been handling the franchise games are handling the tests and are staying in the same hotels as the All Blacks.
CLEAR TACTIC
But while this is a clear tactic to try and get a bit of an advantage ahead of the tests, and it may be true at times with a franchise side that is stuck in the middle of a pre-season when facing them, it is hardly true of the Springboks.
The Springboks were widely criticised when they lost at Eden Park playing a more traditional game plan last year and when they played a different side a week later in Wellington they trounced the All Blacks 43-10, and there was little talk of slowing the game down.
The same applies to the Bok win at Twickenham before the 2023 Rugby World Cup and especially now with Tony Brown as their attacking coach.
“It’s no surprise how we want to play the game. We want to speed the game up,” Umaga told the media in New Zealand.
FRUSTRATING
“It’s very frustrating for us when teams are visibly trying to slow it down.
“What is this game that we want to put out to our public? Because we can hear the public telling us ‘we love the way you’re playing’,” Umaga said.
“It’s great to see running rugby, yet I think we’re doing everything we can not to do it.
“The amount of stoppages in our game, the amount of people having a say on decisions.
“Look, our game’s a great game, when it’s played in the right spirit, and I think for what it was meant to be, how it should be played.
“I think there’s still a way for us to go in terms of getting aligned on that.
“That's just something that for us, we've just got to keep pushing and keep pushing the powers that be.
“If that’s within the laws, let’s push them along and make some calls along that, because only that will start to create change.”
CHATTED TO REFEREES
What is interesting is the narrative that suggests that there is only one way to play rugby, and that is the All Blacks way. That has clearly been employed during the tour and is seen by them as a way to negate the Springboks’ strengths at the setpiece.
We can see this being pushed by the All Blacks and it will be interesting to see if it does have an effect on the match officials. While nobody wants unnecessary time wasting, what it constitutes is often very debatable.
Umaga said they had discussions with the referees about this and were happy with the feedback they received.
“Again, it’s just that alignment piece around who they answer to and making sure they’re all on the same page,” Umaga said.
“We’re trying to go into different countries and trying to promote our game. We want to make sure they’re seeing the best of our game. That’s the only way we'll go forward.
“If they want to get into new areas, and we've got those opportunities, then let's play the best game that people want to see.
“That’s how you get buy-in for it. It’s not what we’re getting at the moment. Not the stoppages, not the slowing it down. That’s my opinion.”