While the All Blacks took confidence from their win over the Bulls, the hosts saw areas the Springboks could exploit on Saturday.
Scrumhalf Embrose Papier was among three Springboks released to play for the Bulls against the All Blacks at Loftus on Saturday. The others were flanker Elrigh Louw and hooker Johan Grobbelaar. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images
The Springboks could learn a few things from the All Blacks’ match against the Bulls ahead of their first Test against New Zealand on Saturday, said Bulls coach Johan Ackermann.
The All Blacks beat the Bulls 50-19 (eight tries to three) in Pretoria on Saturday night.
It was New Zealand’s third warm-up in eight days, also beating the Stormers 38-21 in Cape Town and the Sharks 54-0 in Durban.
They face the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday, the Lions at the same venue next Tuesday, and then the Springboks three more times to round out the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The All Blacks rotated extensively during the first three games against South Africa’s United Rugby Championship-playing teams, and even named a different captain in each game.
‘We made some strides’
While coach Dave Rennie said the Springboks would be three-, four-, or even fivefold stronger than these clubs, they could take confidence from the results.
Especially given that the Bulls match was played at altitude, as Ellis Park will be.
All Black captain on the night, Codie Taylor added the Springboks would ask “a lot more questions” in the set-piece and collisions. But “from where we started with the Stormers… I feel we made some strides as a forward pack.”
Bulls give feedback to Springboks regarding All Blacks
Ackermann said his side were under-prepared playing the game in the middle of the pre-season, and their defence was lacking.
However, he said the Springboks had the “best heads in the [rugby] world” and backed them to take note of a few things.
“The All Blacks had scoreboard luxury to try a few things from deep in their own half that I don’t think they will get away with against the Springboks,” the Bulls coach said.
“That’s the way they play sometimes. But they may find themselves in trouble with that.”
He added that the Springboks, who were far more match-fit than the Bulls, would see opportunities in keeping the ball in hand against the All Blacks.
“If we were a bit more patient with ball in hand tonight we could have finished a few more opportunities. I think the Boks will take that.”
Former Springbok, Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee said that despite the scoreline, the Bulls were grateful to have the “awesome opportunity” to play against the world’s second-best team.
They had also learned of a few areas to improve on: especially composure with ball in hand and a balance between running and kicking, as they have one week off and then return to train for the URC starting late September.
