Captain Read: Wrapping up championship at home would be bonus
A bonus point win for the All Blacks against the Springboks in Wellington will guarantee another Rugby Championship victory and skipper Kieran Read says his side are keen to wrap up another title on home soil.
The All Blacks have already laid waste to Australia in Sydney and at Eden Park and finished well over the top of Argentina in Nelson last weekend for three bonus point victories. Another dominant performance will hand them a third consecutive championship with tests against the Pumas in Buenos Aires and South Africa in Pretoria to come and few would be game enough to bet against it.
“It’s significant for a number of reasons,” Read said yesterday after leading his side in a captain’s run completed in brilliant sunshine at Westpac Stadium. “Obviously there’s something big at the end of the day if we get it right on Saturday around the Rugby Championship, so that’s in our sights . . . we’re looking forward to doing it in front of our own people.”
If there were questions over how good this All Blacks side is after the first two tests against Australia, and, similarly, how good the Wallabies are, they were probably answered last weekend at Trafalgar Park against a vastly improved Pumas who will fancy their chances of beating the Aussies on the Gold Coast.
It was a virtual second-string side in black but their fitness, skill level and ambition were all far too much for a side who had beaten the Springboks in Mendoza and who could be a proper challenge for the All Blacks in their return match in Buenos Aires on September 29.
Australia, meanwhile, last week laboured to a 23-18 victory over the Boks in Brisbane. The All Blacks are leading the way in attack and skill execution.
Coach Steve Hansen’s men are the only side with a positive points differential (75). Second-placed South Africa have a -5 points difference, with Argentina -22 and Australia -48.
The Springboks are finding their feet under new coach Rassie Erasmus, who has signed on for six years and is taking a long-term view to their development, but Read said he believed they could be “wounded” after defeats to the Wallabies and Pumas and will react accordingly.
“They will come at us physically up front. They’ve picked a pack that will take us on there but over the last probably six months in the tests they’ve played, they’ve shown a willingness to use their exciting backs as well. I’m sure if it’s a nice night like this, it will be an awesome game.”