All Blacks have learned set piece lessons, says Jack

3.00pm

DURBAN - Lock Chris Jack says the All Blacks forwards have learned from the set piece rugby lessons delivered last month by England and France.

Arguably the stand-out performer in the New Zealand tight five through the three tests last month, Jack said the loss to England and patchy win over France highlighted the importance of scrum and lineout, areas which were inconsistent.

"This year we've only played northern hemisphere teams and that (set piece work) is an important thing to them," Jack said.

"In a couple of games we were found a bit wanting in some phases. So we've put a bit more importance on that but hopefully we can still play a brand of rugby that we enjoy playing."

While the Springboks may not have the technical approach at scrum and lineout time, clashes with their forwards still provide an enormous physical challenge, Jack said.

He believed the All Blacks would be ready for the test at Pretoria in their opening Tri-Nations test on Saturday.

"It's always really physical and nothing really changes. They've obviously proven themselves, they played really well against the Australians and hopefully we can foot it with them."

Jack and his teammates had still to see footage of the Springboks' victory over the Wallabies, with a video of the match expected to arrive with the All Blacks this evening.

"By the sounds of things, South Africa played very well and deserved the win."

Jack disagreed with a suggestion that the team felt more comfortable being away from the criticism emanating from media and the public in New Zealand.

He said it was a disadvantage playing in front of a foreign crowd while the same off-field distractions remained.

"Wherever we go there's media and they've got their opinions on things, it's fair to say," he said, adding that the swipes taken at players like captain Reuben Thorne were unjustified.

"We try to keep our eyes away from that sort of thing. But obviously it hurts to see one of your friends being criticised. We know what they do on the field and how good they are.

"We're behind each other 100 per cent, no matter what happens."

- NZPA