John Drake: Burger - in your face

Let's not muck around about what will happen in tomorrow night's crucial test at Carisbrook.

The Springboks will continue with their in-your-face defence, playing for territory and with a definite preference for playing without the ball rather than backing their own skill.

For me, the defence is nothing more than clever cheating - they are offside from virtually every second phase. The secret is that they do it all together so no single player looks out of place.

In recent tests they have been penalised early on, but after a period the officials have been more lenient and have focused on other areas due to picketing from the wily Springbok senior pros.

Just look at the ruck/maul area.

In the past, Schalk Burger has been heavily penalised by referees and has spent a fair amount of time in the bin for his consistent cheating.

This year, Burger has been faultless and Richie McCaw has been penalised off the park. Why the change? Have Burger and McCaw changed their habits or are the officials ignoring Burger and concentrating on McCaw?

Probably a bit of the latter, and maybe some great pre-game hype from Springbok coach Jake White to grease the wheels.

The Boks have a sound scrum and a formidable lineout plus great speed in the loose, yet they struggle to get parity of possession.

This adds to my theory that they may prefer to play without the ball and rely on their stingy, albeit illegal defence to wear down the opposition and to force the errors and, hopefully, the points.

When they get some possession, their first instinct is to kick for territory or to turn the ball back into the heavy traffic and the comfort of their reliable forwards.

These tactics have seen the Boks go from also-rans against the Wallabies at the beginning of the season to nearly the best team in the world. A win at Carisbrook would confirm that.

So from White's viewpoint, this blitzkrieg style is working well. But I think the style is flawed, relying on poor tactics from the opposition plus a lack of authority and guts from the referees and touch judges.

Last time out against the Springboks, the All Blacks created at least half a dozen scoring opportunities. But they butchered the game with more than 20 handling errors, some naive tactics in their own 22m area, failure to drive at the lineout and ruck and, most crucially, a preference to run rather than kick for territory, which played into the Springboks' illegal defence structure.

I would imagine Graham Henry and co will definitely want to change the way the team played at Cape Town for tomorrow night. Certainly the referee will be made very aware of opinions on some of the less savoury South African tactics.

The selection of Leon MacDonald is a signal the All Blacks will play more conservatively for territory by kicking and turning the Springbok defence round. Hopefully there will be a mixture of high and long ground kicks to test the back three.

Percy Montgomery and co have looked good in this Tri-Nations, but they haven't been really tested with a varied kicking game. Goalkicking could be an issue, but MacDonald is cool under pressure and should be backed.

Up front, the All Blacks must drive at the lineout and attack the powerful Bok scrum. I still wonder if Rodney So'oialo and Jerry Collins have the size to match the big South African loose forwards.

There are no doubts about their athletic ability and passion. It's just that sometimes I feel McCaw is a lone ranger at the breakdown.

If the All Blacks drive and suck the South African forwards back into the rucks and mauls, there will be space out wide for the attack.

What will be required is patience. In Cape Town, the All Blacks started as if they were 60 minutes into a test.

Henry's coaching handbook has always demanded that the platform up front be established before the attack begins. This should have been standard instructions all week for the team.

The importance of a good start will be vital against a Springbok team high on confidence. The All Blacks don't need to score 10 points in the first 15 minutes. Just don't give them away.

The Springboks are back to being our arch-foes. Let's give them respect but not be fooled by their tactics - and that goes for the referee as well!

* John Drake is a former All Black test prop.