Kieran Read outlines what All Blacks must do to challenge Boks in SA Tests

Former skipper Kieran Read says New Zealand have to dominate the physical battle to beat the world champion Springboks in back-to-back showdowns in South Africa in the coming weeks.

A rare Bok whitewash of the Wallabies Down Under has set Rassie Erasmus’ men up nicely for a rematch of the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, when the All Blacks face the South Africans on 31 August at Ellis Park, before a 7 September duel in Cape Town.

The Kiwis returned to winning ways in style against Argentina in Auckland on Saturday. Will Jordan crossed the whitewash either side of half time for two of the All Blacks’ six tries as they thumped Los Pumas in the Rugby Championship to avenge a shock defeat in Wellington on 10 August.

New coaches, new systems

Speaking during the latest episode of Sky Sports NZ’s ‘The Breakdown’, the 127-Test Read emphasised the importance of New Zealand matching the Boks upfront to lay the platform for victory in South Africa.

“That’s a huge Test. The key that I’ve seen over these five Tests is we’ve probably only just got our mindset right,” he said. “It’s been a little bit up and down, probably trying to figure out a lot of things with the new coaches and new systems.

“But going into a big Test match, especially against South Africa over there, you just can’t be thinking of too much else other than being as physically dominant as you can.

“So, essentially that’s what I think the leaders will be talking about, making sure they get a performance that showcases their physicality like what we saw [on Saturday].

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“But 100 percent they’re going to need that because what we’ve seen from the Boks so far this year against Ireland and those two Tests against the Wallabies, is that they’re not going away, they’re not shirking those traditional methods of coming hard at you in the physical battle.”

In the two-Test July tour to New Zealand, England missed a huge opportunity to record a win over an All Blacks side which had looked increasingly vulnerable in their own backyard. Head coach Scott Robertson was buoyed by the vast improvement of the Kiwis against the Pumas at Eden Park, and Read is optimistic about the future.

‘Got to be right on every game’

“I don’t think they’ve played their best footy yet, it’s probably been a long way off,” he added. “[Saturday] they got it right for 40 minutes and it really came about through some simple things done right, like the kicking game. The Argies were just slightly off and it shows that you’ve got to be right on every game.

“There’s no concern but I think what they’ll have to get right playing against South Africa is the way they defend. South Africa, yes they’re going to come at us through the maul, so our maul defence has got to be strong; it probably hasn’t been the strongest this year so far.

“And then, our ability to turnover the ball, to defend across the park and stop their momentum, stop their gain line. That’s what the Argies did, they managed to get on top of us a few times, the English did that as well earlier in the year.”

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.