Coaches’ barbs raise the stakes
TENSIONS RISE: ERASMUS, HANSEN IN VERBAL SPARRING
Confidence of the losers will take a big knock, says Rassie.
Following a tense buildup, the cat will be thrown among the pigeons when South Africa and the All Blacks square off in Yokohama today, in arguably the biggest pool game of the Rugby World Cup.
A lot of verbal bombs were thrown ahead of the clash, with Bok coach Rassie Erasmus concerned that 50/50 calls by referee Jerome Garces might go the way of the All Blacks, while his counterpart Steve Hansen hit back by suggesting it was bad taste to play mind games with the referee.
With the Boks having closed the gap on their arch-rivals over the last couple of years, both coaches touched on the significance of the result, particularly if their teams were to lose.
While Hansen did not feel it would be the end of the world, Erasmus believed the losers would take a knock in confidence.
“It doesn’t become any easier. We will be desperate and they will be desperate,” Erasmus said.
“Both teams know if you lose this game it doesn’t take you out of the quarterfinals, but it takes a lot of belief away and you have to regroup, and then the Italy match becomes really slippery.
“So it’s a massive test to keep the belief going and the mentality going.”
The All Blacks are probably the best components of the kicking game in world rugby, with flyhalf Richie Mo’unga and fullback Beauden Barrett being measured against the Boks’ Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux, and Erasmus reiterated that conditions would play a crucial role in the fixture.
“We are excited, nervous and full of pride, but also not too sure how the weather is going to play out this weekend,” he said.
“Aside from everybody talking about the humidity and the heat, now it looks like it’s going to rain a lot, so I’m not sure how much speed there will be in the game.”
Erasmus stressed, however, that they knew penalties alone would not win the game for them, and that they needed to break down the All Blacks’ superb defensive line.
“We all know the last 20 will be important to keep up with New Zealand pace-wise,” he said.
“Our bench will play an important role and those guys always will be key, whether to close out the game or seal the result.
“The starting team and the bench look great but there’s also the other games we are looking forward to and the eight guys not in the 23 are also gelling well.”