Boks expecting spirited response from All Blacks in second Test

The Springboks are expecting the All Blacks to hit back in their second Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday, after their thumping 26-10 win at Mbombela Stadium last week.

The result was the All Blacks’ fifth loss in six games, which has seen them slip to their lowest ever spot of fifth in the World Rugby rankings, meaning they will be desperate to arrest that slide this weekend.

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“The All Blacks are a very proud team and a very proud rugby nation, so obviously they will be desperate, even more desperate than they were in Mbombela,” said Bok lock Lood de Jager.

“We’ve been in that position before, where you fall to fifth or sixth in the world and you’ll do anything to get back to that top spot. I think they will definitely be in that mindset.

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“For us we need to have a really good review of the game and then we are fortunate enough to play them again this weekend so we can focus on ourselves a lot, what we can still improve on, what we did well and what we can do better and the threats they will pose throughout the game,” he added.

“But they will come with everything that they have and we are expecting a massive battle on the weekend again.”

Battling for air

It was interesting to see both sets of players battling for air at times during last week’s match, with De Jager believing both teams had to get used to how the other played again.

“I think it was just the way the game went in the first half. There were long passages of ball in play at a very high intensity, so we obviously tried to bring our game and force it on them, which is mauling and the confrontational game we believe works,” explained De Jager.

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“They then tried to force their game back on us which is a bit more expansive with the quality players they have and offloads. So it made for a very high intensity affair when the ball was in play and I think there were times when both sides were sucking diesel, trying to catch their breath,” he added.

“I think as they miss preparing against teams who bring the maul and confrontational play like South African teams, we probably don’t play against teams that play that expansively anymore.”