Steve Hansen hopes that a new management strategy will boost the All Blacks’ performance in the Test against the Springboks and on the subsequent overseas tour. JON CARDINELLI reports.
The All Blacks have done a lot of travelling over the past two weeks. The bulk of the squad journeyed to Argentina last week for the clash against the Pumas in Buenos Aries. On Monday, the group arrived in Cape Town ahead of the final Rugby Championship game against the Springboks.
Hansen and his charges looked weary as they unloaded their luggage from the team bus and checked into their hotel in Newlands. The mood brightened, however, when they were reunited with Ryan Crotty, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Liam Squire and Lima Sopoaga – the group of players that wasn’t considered for the Argentina tour and was sent through to South Africa on Friday night.
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The All Blacks have already won the Rugby Championship. They beat the Boks 41-13 in Christchurch and 57-15 in Durban last year.
They thrashed the Boks by a record score when the teams met in Albany three weeks ago. They have nothing left to prove in terms of this tournament and indeed this New Zealand-South Africa rivalry.
On Monday, Hansen laughed off suggestions that this All Blacks side will want for motivation at Newlands on Saturday. According to the head coach, the decision to split the squad over the last two rounds of the Rugby Championship is geared towards boosting the level of performance.
That’s right: the All Blacks are looking to improve on their recent performances: a 57-0 win over the Boks in Albany and a 36-10 victory in Buenos Aires.
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‘We’ve approached things differently this year,’ Hansen said. ‘We sent those players who weren’t involved in the Argentina game though to South Africa early. The second part of this plan involves managing the effects of travel for the rest of the group [that travelled from Argentina to South Africa].
‘Travel is a big thing, and what we’ve found is that the guys probably don’t pay the price in this particular competition. It’s more of a problem on the end-of-year tour.
‘Since this competition has grown to include Argentina, the travel demands have been greater. The results up north [between the northern and southern hemisphere teams] have changed a bit since that’s happened.
‘Is this new plan going to work? We’ll only be able to know that for sure when we’ve done our analysis of everything at the end of the year.’
The Boks have been warned. The All Blacks’ end-of-year tour opponents – namely the Wallabies, Barbarians, France, Scotland and Wales – may also feel the effects of this strategy.
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Cane was in good spirits when he welcomed his teammates to Cape Town on Monday. The All Blacks flank said that he and the other players who arrived on Friday can’t wait to get stuck into the Boks later this week.
‘It’s great to have that extra week to recover. You also get to do some training that you normally wouldn’t get to do in a typical Test week. It’s been nice.
‘The five of us watched the game [between the All Blacks and Argentina in the early hours of Sunday morning] together. We’ve been fizzing for the other guys to arrive.
‘They’ll try and guts out the rest of the day now, and try to beat the jet lag. It’s probably on us who have been here since Friday to give them a lift and keep them awake.’
The All Blacks will name their team to play the Boks on Thursday.
