‘Boks mustn’t allow All Blacks to set tempo of game,’ says Swys de Bruin

The Springboks have been a reactive side in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup in France, but will need to do a 180 degrees turn and set the tone from the start in the final against the All Blacks at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday if they want to give themselves a good shot at the title.

That is the assessment of the Boks by former attack coach of the national team, Swys de Bruin.

In both their quarter-final and semi-final wins — by one point on each occasion against France and England respectively — the Boks had to fight back after going behind in the first 40 minutes, but that won’t be possible against Ian Foster’s All Blacks, says De Bruin.

Good start

“The All Blacks like to make a fast start and will want to play as quickly as they can, and what the Boks will have to do is stick to their suffocating defence and pressure game, and not allow the All Blacks to set the tempo and pace,” said De Bruin when speaking to The Citizen.

“The Boks must look to pin them down in their territory and look to maul them as often as possible … that’s the one thing they don’t like; playing around their 22m area, on the back foot. So, the areas of play in the field are going to be vital for the Boks.”

De Bruin added: “Seeing the Boks have a good pack of forwards, they must look to kick for touch and then try and tire out the All Blacks … because we know that when the Boks send on their replacements (in the second half) it can have a devastating effect.

“This is also something that worked really well for the Boks in that 35-7 win at Twickenham before the World Cup … the Boks dominated the lineouts and their maul worked well that day.

“Also, the Boks have to take away the All Blacks’ skill-set, stop them from running at the Boks and getting momentum and rhythm in their game.”

Kicking

The Boks were troubled by England’s tactical kicking in their semi-final clash in Paris last weekend, something De Bruin believes the All Blacks might try and use against Siya Kolisi and Co this weekend as well, but in a different form.

“New Zealand will have a very good look at what happened in that game (against England), but that’s not anywhere near their style,” said the former Lions coach of the All Blacks.

“Their kicking profile and the players they have are different from those in the England side.

“Instead of giving box kicks, they would rather look for kicking space where the ball finds grass, or chip and chase, and the Boks need to be aware of that tactic,” he said.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 9pm.