Jesse Kriel tells All Blacks: ‘Boks are better team now than at World Cup’

The Springboks are a better team than when they won the Rugby World Cup last year, according to centre Jesse Kriel, and they will have the perfect opportunity to prove that when they take on their biggest rivals, the All Blacks, in a Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

In their history the All Blacks have enjoyed the better of the Springboks, winning 62 games to the Boks’ 40, while the sides have battled out four draws.

But since Rassie Erasmus and his coaching staff took over in 2018, that gap has become a lot smaller, with the teams sharing five wins each and playing out one draw during that time, while most results were by small margins.

The Boks have won their last two games against the All Blacks, a record 35-7 thumping in a pre-World Cup warm-up at Twickenham, before they edged New Zealand 12-11 in a thrilling final at the Stade de France to lift their fourth Webb Ellis trophy.

It will thus be interesting to see how this weekend’s game plays out, especially considering that the Boks have been in good form, while Ellis Park is a very happy hunting ground for the All Blacks.

Better than last year

“If you’re not better now than you were last year, you’ve got a problem,” said Kriel at a press conference earlier in the week.

“The big thing for us is that we want to stay ahead of the curve and keep working on our individual skills to get better. I definitely believe we’re a better team than we were last year.

“Last week (against Australia in Perth) we played a completely new team, with a lot of guys that weren’t in the World Cup final. Both teams (the Boks and All Blacks) are in a similar space in that a lot of new guys have come in and have put up their hands.

“Our focus now is to train as hard as possible. This is a massive Test for both teams, so it’s important that we are well prepared and have our systems in place.”

Kriel did pay due respect to the All Blacks, who are under a new coach in Scott Robertson and going through a bit of a rebuilding phase.

They have had varied results this season including two tight home wins over England, a home loss against Argentina and then a bounce back thrashing of Los Pumas at home in their last game, which they will be hoping to build on.

“They have unbelievable players with a great skill set, and they play a fast game, so we know what we are up against this weekend,” said Kriel.