All Blacks vow to be ready for anything
ALL Black assistant coach Ian Foster and fullback Israel Dagg said yesterday that although they expected the Springboks to use the impressive attacking game they displayed against Australia when the teams meet at Soccer City on Saturday, they were equally prepared for the home team’s high-pressure kicking game, writes Zeena Isaacs.
They attributed the Boks’ attackorientated approach mainly to exciting new flyhalf Johan Goosen.
“They have a different guy at No 10 and they certainly had intentions to play with a little more width (against Australia) than they did against us in Dunedin, and we expect that to continue,” said Foster.
“They haven’t had a lot of success with Morné Steyn there and they weren’t happy with the formula they had with him in Dunedin, and they’ve changed it. So clearly they’ll play a slightly different game. But we are expecting the odd high ball and a physical battle against their forwards, especially with their drives, so some things won’t change.”
Despite the Springboks’ tactical kicking game being labelled predictable in some quarters, Dagg suggested that it was effective when executed properly.
He also fired a psychological missile at the Boks, saying they enjoy facing the kicking game. “We pride ourselves on (contesting for) the high ball. In the past they have been pretty good at it and they have placed us under pressure there. We enjoy it, but it is something we have to work on because if you drop the ball and make errors they will punish you.
“But hopefully this week we can get it right, especially since the ball will go a lot higher at altitude. But that said, we have to expect the unexpected because we could be waiting for the high ball and they could decide to run it wide.”
While Foster spoke highly of Goosen’s array of skills, with his impressive kicking, running and distribution posing threats to the opposition, he said the player was still finding his feet at international level — inexperience the visitors are expected to play on this weekend.
“We won’t target Goosen specifically,” said Foster. “We have a game plan that is good for us and we want to impose that on them … but I guess he will be put under pressure, just like any kid. Hopefully if we attack well we will expose him in one-onone situations.”
Hooker Keven Mealamu, meanwhile, expected a heavy onslaught from the in-form Bok pack and said the clash would mark a good opportunity for his team to measure the quality of their performance.
He also relished the challenge of playing at Soccer City and said they have fond memories of the electric atmosphere there in 2010.