NO HOLDING BACK
ALL BLACKS: SPRINGBOKS PLAN TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
South Africans can’t afford to mull over shock win in Wellington.
Trying to play attacking rugby against the most clinical attacking team in the world might seem like a gamble, but this is what the Springboks are aiming to do this weekend according to hooker Malcolm Marx.
With a buzz already building in Pretoria yesterday ahead of the return match against the All Blacks at Loftus, the menacing frame of Marx was seen as one of the Boks’ big weapons to create space for their backs.
“We would like to provide a good base for the backs and we obviously want to attack a bit more,” Marx said.
“We defended quite a bit lately but it’s down to the coaches’ plan and what they come up with.”
Last year the Boks lost 25-24 to the All Blacks at Newlands, where Marx produced a masterful display, but the goalposts had since been shifted.
“Last year it wasn’t about me, but the team. They worked really hard and I won’t take the credit for that,” he said.
“We played well even though we lost by one point on the day,.”
Marx believed it was important to take the emotion out of their 36-34 shock win over New Zealand last month and this weekend would be a new ball game despite all the expectation placed on the South Africans.
“Just putting that behind us is important,” he said.
“That victory was amazing for us but that’s in the past and we need to focus on this week.
“We will just have to zone in on ourselves where we can get better and work on what we did wrong in both the All Blacks and Australian games, improve on that and then go from there.”
Marx said two wins in their last two Tests had created an uplifting vibe between the players.
“There’s always been a buzz in the squad, but the guys are obviously a bit more positive and I think the win over in New Zealand was huge for us.
“And then we tried to back it up a week later by beating the Aussies in PE, which was also tough, but that’s done so now we look at this weekend and this weekend only.”
The fact that New Zealand had already won the Rugby Championship would not affect the Boks, according to Marx.
“I don’t know what’s going on in their heads,” said the hooker.
“We are concentrating on our goals for this specific match but any Test match against them is always big, with pride at stake on both ends.”
He pointed out the danger the All Blacks pose in that area.
The Springboks will have to be clever in deciding who they field at tighthead in this weekend’s big All Blacks Test at Loftus Versfeld, forwards coach Matt Proudfoot has cautioned.
With Frans Malherbe, Wilco Louw and Vincent Koch all in the selection fray, Proudfoot said yesterday this was a key area, at which New Zealand were often at their most dangerous.
“The importance of tight phases is that it creates space, and the All Blacks love to launch from a maul. They have good steppers and guys who can run good, hard lines,” he said.
“If we see how Argentina struggled at scrum time against the All Blacks, we have to be very smart about our tighthead.
“One can just see how the All Blacks attack your scrum and come with a late shove, and sometimes on the angle.”
Proudfoot pointed out that the All Blacks challenged consistently in the air and on the ground, and the hosts would have to be consistent in their plays and exits.
“Test matches develop in a game, and when you have control, sometimes that control gets taken away,” he said.
“So we would like to stay in control of the Test a bit longer.
“Against Australia we had been asked to make a lot of tackles against a very good attacking side, and to have control a bit longer is what we’re striving for.”
While the All Blacks will be fired up to turn the tables in the Rugby Championship clash, after suffering a rare recent loss to the Boks in Wellington, the South Africans were sweating on the fitness of No 8 Warren Whiteley and centre Damian de Allende, who missed the Aussie Test in Port Elizabeth last week due to ankle and shoulder injuries.
“Damian is doing well. He did most of the training last week, while Warren has gone to rehab and we will probably make a decision on him on Tuesday,” Proudfoot said.
“But I think Sikhumbuzo (Notshe) also did well and he has been around for a long time.”
Backing each player’s skills set was an important factor, Proudfoot felt, so they wanted to find Notshe’s speciality and asses what he was comfortable with, in order for him to bring that to the party.
“He is more of an attacking player and we want him to play his natural game,” Proudfoot said.
“He is a decent lineout option, but there’s also a lot of detail for a young guy to get used to in a short space of time.
“We want him to perform outside the box and not inside the box, and get him into that frame of mind.”
Meanwhile, flank Francois Louw was released from English club Bath and rejoined the Bok training camp yesterday.