New Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen said he was already excited about his side’s Tri-Nations Test against Australia in Brisbane next Saturday.
The All Blacks, who beat the Wallabies 32-12 in Christchurch two weeks ago, overcame a committed, but one-dimensional Springbok team 35-17 in Wellington on Saturday, to head the Tri-Nations table on nine points.
The Wallabies thrashed the Springboks 49-0 in Brisbane last week and the manner in which they tore apart the vaunted South African rush defence should give them immense confidence against the All Blacks.
”It’s going to be a big game,” Hansen told reporters on Sunday. ”I’m really looking forward to it. They are going to believe they are good enough to beat us and we believe we’re good enough to beat them.
”You’ve got two sides going in there who are confident and believe in themselves and play a style of rugby which is conducive to people enjoying it.”
Hansen said the All Blacks would travel to Australia without scrumhalf Piri Weepu, who has a knee injury and centre Sam Tuitupou who pulled a hamstring.
Bumps and bruises
The side’s rotational policy seemed to pay dividends in that Weepu and Tuitupou were the only two injury concerns, particularly given the confrontational nature of the Springboks at Wellington’s Railyards Stadium.
”That’s what you expect after a South African Test,” Hansen said of the numerous All Blacks carrying visible bumps and bruises as they congregated in the lobby of the team’s hotel.
”They were an embarrassed side a week ago and came out with a lot of physicality and passion.”
Hansen said the Springboks’ game plan had been pretty simple and they had fixed the timing of their defence, which had caused the All Blacks problems executing their own plans.
”They play a game that is based on you making mistakes and they jump on them. It might be boring to watch but it’s effective,” the former Wales coach said of the Springboks tactics before adding he did not expect them to change tactics when the Tri-Nations competition moves to South Africa in late August.
”It was still a scrappy game,” he said. ”Our execution in certain areas wasn’t great but our composure and ability to get the job done in the end was pretty good. We just have to be a bit more clinical about what we do.”
Springboks coach Jake White said he felt his team could still win the expanded Tri-Nations, particularly with three home matches still to come.
”In 2004 we lost two games out and ended up winning the Tri-Nations,” White said.
”I think we we’re going to have to play a lot better than in the first two games … there are still another four opportunities.
”We’ve got to go home and play the All Blacks and the Wallabies at home so we’ve got to keep working and make sure that the graph looks like it’s going up.” – Reuters