Former New Zealand head coach Laurie Mains believes there isn’t much difference between the Springboks and All Blacks after the completion of this year’s Rugby Championship.
The prestigious Southern Hemisphere tournament came to a conclusion on Saturday when South Africa finished their campaign with a narrow victory over Argentina at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, after New Zealand had claimed a 28-14 win over Australia at Optus Stadium in Perth earlier in the day.
That resulted in the Springboks and All Blacks finishing on 19 points on the final Rugby Championship table but the world champions were crowned tournament winners due to a much better points difference, while the Wallabies and Los Pumas finished in third and fourth positions respectively.
The Boks and All Blacks, who are in first and second positions in World Rugby’s rankings, both won four out of six Rugby Championship matches, with the former’s two defeats registered against Australia and New Zealand in Johannesburg and Auckland respectively, while the latter’s losses came against Argentina in Buenos Aires and their second encounter with the world champions in Wellington.
Springboks handed All Blacks their heaviest-ever defeat
Scott Robertson’s troops clinched a 24-17 win over the Boks in that first clash at Eden Park – which extended their unbeaten run at the famous venue to 51 Tests – before Rassie Erasmus avenged that defeat in style as they clinched a 43-10 victory at Sky Stadium, which was the All Blacks’ heaviest-ever defeat in their history.
Mains was recently interviewed by Michael Laws on the The Platform NZ podcast and the show’s host was singing the Boks team’s praises, saying how strong they are in most departments.
Although he agreed, Mains used that second Test between the arch rivals to validate his point that the All Blacks are not far behind them. He feels the All Blacks got the selections of two key forwards wrong and it cost them dearly in the end.
“They are, but like at half-time in that second Test, there was nothing in it,” he said.
“It was a pretty equal game, and that was with what I think are not a very well thought-out, selected All Black team. For example, the biggest player in the All Blacks is Fabian Holland. Now, he was put on the bench.
“Tupou Vaa’i, who had been an outstanding success against France and Argentina as a blindside flanker, was for some unknown reason put into lock, marking men that are much bigger and stronger than he is.
“That All Black team has been best this year when he’s been on the blindside flank and Holland in (at) lock.”
Mains feels those selections and a “mental lapse” proved crucial for the All Blacks in the grander scheme of things against the Springboks.
‘It sort of fell apart after half-time’
“And then it sort of fell apart after half-time. There’s all sorts of reasons for that, and maybe the major one, here’s what got me: We couldn’t win our own lineouts because Fabian Holland wasn’t there,” he explained.
“We even got pushed back in our scrums, and that was a mental lapse, not a physical lapse.
“They’re not a stronger scrum than the All Blacks, so it’s a mental lapse, and we couldn’t take high kicks.
“Now, it’s really tough for Damian McKenzie, who’s a pretty small man, playing at full-back and trying to take those high kicks against wings that are probably three or four inches taller than him, and the Springboks that are chasing it.
“That was the reason our second half fell apart.
“Scrums, lineouts, and the inability to gather their high kicks. They were good ones, don’t get me wrong, but to gather their high kicks and retain the ball. So, if you can’t do those three things…”