South Africa have extreme limitations, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Getty
South Africa have extreme limitations, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
The rugby community has shown an unflinching determination to build a bit of drama and create an epic story around the looming clash between the All Blacks and Springboks.
It's going to be Titanic apparently. A seismic encounter between the game's two leading heavyweights to rank alongside the Rumblein the Jungle.
Full marks for inventiveness and rugby shouldn't shy away from hyping tests, but the facts have to get in the way of this particular interpretation which has pegged South Africa as some kind of box kicking, rolling maul army of doom that can't be stopped.
The thing is, though, the Boks can be stopped as both the British and Irish Lions and now the Wallabies have defeated them this year.
This mighty juggernaut of a team has played seven and won five this year – a record that's not much better than the three wins and a draw the All Blacks posted last year and had everyone certain they were in the midst of some kind of existential crises.
Not playing any tests in 2020 enabled South Africa's aura to grow. There was everyone else – the All Blacks, England, Australia and France - trying to piece together their form and confidence amid the impossible conditions imposed by the global pandemic, appearing to be a bit all over the place as they fluctuated between previously unknown extremes of good and bad.
By doing nothing, the Boks seemingly took giant steps forward in the minds of many who have been seduced by South Africa's inactivity.
South Africa have extreme limitations, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Getty
But the legend has grown to a strangely unfathomable degree since the Boks beat England in the World Cup final in 2019.
South Africa have extreme limitations, the most obvious is their difficulty to cope when the game is fast and aerobic.
In beating South Africa 28-26 on Sunday night, the Wallabies have simultaneously established that they are not awful and the Boks are not brilliant.
And in doing so they have also given due cause to re-open the file on the All Blacks who provided ample additional evidence, in thumping the Pumas 39-0, that they are significantly better equipped physically and mentally than they were 12 months ago.
There were a few frayed edges about the All Blacks in the Gold Coast – some loose moments and a definite loss of clinical function in the final 20 minutes, but the intent and patience they displayed was remarkable.
The key to it all was their discipline – not defined by their ability to stay within the laws – but their adherence to their strategy and refusal to be suckered into trying to play their preferred fast and wide rugby.
As the All Blacks discovered last year, Australia and Argentina present entirely different tactical and physical challenges, which can't be met in the same way.
The Wallabies ruck and run while the Pumas want to shut down the space out wide, funnel opposition sides into the middle of the field and flood the breakdown to slow possession and prevent forward momentum being generated.
The Wallabies celebrate their win against the Springboks. Photo / Photosport
In 2020 the All Blacks didn't appear to appreciate that they couldn't take a one size fits all approach to their tactical management and paid the price by losing in consecutive weeks to the Wallabies and Pumas.
This year, the All Blacks have shown that they get that success is predicated on being able to adapt a gameplan to the required degree to suit the opposition.
Against the Pumas the All Blacks were willing to hold the ball through multiple phases knowing that ultimately the best way to break Argentina's resistance was through attrition.
The Pumas' defence rarely leaks or is bust wide open. It has to be systematically broken down through the application of an attrition-based mind-set where it eventually yields after being forced into making an unusually high number of tackles.
The All Blacks had the patience, perseverance and discipline to stick to task for long enough to get the job done and it is this one fact that suggests they are ready to take on a South African side that looks considerably more vulnerable than most people believe.
The Boks are beatable if the All Blacks can once again successfully adapt their own gameplan and deal with the inevitable high ball threat they will face and find a way to combine their dynamic ball carrying with their sublime ball playing to generate pace and momentum.
Based on the evidence of this year so far, the All Blacks are the more dynamic, resourceful and skilled and maybe surprisingly, the more physical.
South Africa, to be blunt, may be sitting at a falsely high place in the world rankings, something the All Blacks can expose if they can build an effective strategy to negate the Boks' strengths the same way they did against the Wallabies and Pumas.
