The Springboks must not be misled by the standard of the All Blacks play or their game plan in beating Australia 22-16 in the first match of the 2009 Tri-Nations.
That much was made clear by All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith on Tuesday.
Smith, speaking in Pretoria where the Kiwis are preparing before moving to Bloemfontein for the Tri-Nations Test against South Africa, said the All Blacks followed a basic game plan against Australia because of the many newcomers to the side — and the Springboks can be assured the visitors will take a step up on Saturday.
”We lacked a little combination,” Smith said about the game against the Wallabies.
”We were a little rusty as a team and stuck to a basic game plan.”
He added he thought ”the guys did well, they played with passion”.
Smith pointed out the All Blacks side included a lot of new guys who still had to get to grips at this level of rugby.
”We’ll develop the game as we go along,” Smith said, pointing out that a team must crawl before they walk and walk before they run.
”It is a step along the path.”
He pointed out this was a new team, that there was no magic wand and ”sometimes we just have to develop the guys”.
Smith then added ominously: ”Last year, the further we went the better we got.”
The assistant coach described the match against Australia as physical and admitted the match was ideal preparation for the Springboks, with many of the All Blacks who hadn’t had much football at all.
And although both sides had big midfield backs and speed on the wings, Smith said South Africa play ”slightly differently, there are certain things that you can exploit”.
He made it clear there will have to be some subtle changes in their approach and game plan, and as another warning, Smith said the team’s focus was ”to mentally come back in a game” when asked about the fight back from 13-3 down against the Wallabies to a 22-16 win.
”We did that several times last year. It certainly is a source of pride for the squad that the spirit is there.”
He was rather non-committal about what the All Blacks expected from the Springboks in Saturday’s Test and also about the Boks’ performance against the British and Irish Lions.
”I think they had their moments against what was a tough Lions team,” Smith said. — Sapa