Springboks: All Blacks locks ‘shifted bar’
Wellington: The Springboks boasted one of the sport’s all-time greatest locking partnerships when they won the Rugby World Cup in 2007, but assistant coach Matt Proudfoot believes the All Blacks’ current combination have revolutionised the position in recent years.
Take Brodie Retallick’s stunning intercept try against Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener on Sunday for example. Locks didn’t use to do that, he said. “Watching Brodie again on the weekend taking an intercept, second rowers doing that type of work, I suppose they have shifted the bar as every generation does,” Proudfoot said.
Speaking ahead of South Africa’s muchanticipated clash with the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday, Proudfoot predicted the battle of second rowers to be one of the most hotly contested areas on the pitch. He said his players, including captain Eben Etzebeth, were relishing the opportunity to measure up against Retallick and Sam Whitelock in a precursor to their World Cup encounter.
“I don’t know how many tests it is, 50-60 tests they’ve been together as a unit, but that experience really bodes well for them. Our guys are relishing that challenge, just to see how their game has expanded,” he said. “We challenge our players on a weekly basis to improve and to get better and I’m really happy with the four we’ve got, I think they’ve had great seasons and I think it’s a part of the game that’s going to be fascinating; the lineout, what the four second rowers get up to defensively, carrying the ball up, contesting ball in the air.
“It’s such a major part of the game, what these big guys can do. They’re two metres tall, 115kg, when that hits you, you know all about it, so it’s just indicative of where modern rugby is now, that these guys can put that work load through.”
Asked to compare Retallick and Whitelock to Springboks greats Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, who were cornerstones in the South Africa team that last hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup, Proudfoot didn’t go as far as saying the Kiwis were better than his nation’s iconic duo.
However, he was happy to heap praise on the pair for the way they have modernised the role of a lock, pointing to Retallick’s breakaway in the All Blacks’ 20-16 win over the Pumas where he took an intercept near the halfway line and sprinted 50 metres to score.
“I think every generation the game changes, probably 10 years ago it was more a setphase orientated game and forwards were predominantly designed just around the setphase. But I think when you look at the two of them, their game has expanded, the workrate they get through the game. “We’ve got four very good second rowers here that are really keen to challenge themselves against those two, but I don’t think it’s just the two of them as a combination, I think when you put Kieran Read in there and it’s the three of them together, that’s when you see how good they are together.” While the All Blacks only narrowly managed to beat Argentina, Proudfoot said it was no mean feat to travel to Buenos Aires with a depleted lineup and come away with a result against what he described a “now seasoned” opposition.