{"id":573404,"date":"2026-08-19T04:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T04:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/573404\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T04:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T04:24:13","slug":"brutality-springboks-coach-questions-all-blacks-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/573404\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Brutality?’ Springboks coach questions All Blacks tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysis: Any inference from Felix Jones’ comments that Dave Rennie is coaching methods that put opposing players at risk is a step too far, writes Patrick McKendry.<\/p>\n

The Springboks, a day after complaining about being accused of slowing the game down, have again used a press conference to attempt to wrest a narrative ahead of Sunday\u2019s first Test \u2013 this time suggesting the All Blacks need to look at staying “within the laws”.<\/p>\n

Assistant coach Felix Jones, an Irishman, is the latest to try to use the platform in another clear attempt to pressure the match officials and unsettle the All Blacks, including head coach Dave Rennie, who Jones mentioned by name.<\/p>\n

This morning\u2019s example in Johannesburg featured Jones immediately mentioning some of the “feedback” the Springboks had received from the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls following their defeats to the All Blacks over the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of things probably caught them out \u2013 a couple of things probably trended from the feedback amongst the different franchises,\u201d Jones said. <\/p>\n

\u201cA few things around the breakdown \u2013 they experienced tucked shoulders going into the breakdown which I know they weren\u2019t happy with\u2026 like a reversed arm, non-wrapping action. That was a consistent theme that came out.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably another big one for [the South African club teams] is they were all actually quite happy \u2013 they created a lot of opportunities in terms of getting themselves into scoring positions maybe 10m out. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the teams got multiple lineout opportunities there and I think they were frustrated they couldn\u2019t score with their maul. It\u2019s tough when there\u2019s someone pulling you or trying to lift a leg or maybe just going off feet for a couple of seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie with prop Tyrel Lomax at training in Johannesburg. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

Helped by an amenable media who appeared to know exactly what questions to ask, Jones continued with a reference to the importance of player “safety”.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t want it to be a controversial thing\u2026 but we\u2019ve coached against Glasgow and Australia when Dave has been there and you mention the word ‘brutal’ \u2013 that does follow his coaching\u2026<\/p>\n

“World rugby\u2019s No.1 priority is safety so we\u2019re just super aware that the feedback we did get from the franchises that there were a number of that type of clear-out actions\u2026 so we want to make sure that brutality or physicality stays within the laws.”<\/p>\n

What Rennie and his staff <\/a>make of the latest efforts from the Boks may not be safe to print but they will probably be interested to know that Jones made his comments with a straight face.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of people who have watched the Springboks since they started playing international rugby in 1891 will know the South Africans have never been anything but brutal in their approach to the game, and especially in the breakdown. For Jones to casually bring up player safety will clearly attract the attention of the public, if not that of the match officials. Whether the latter take much notice remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

There was more. A reporter, seemingly anticipating where the conversation was leading, asked whether Jones felt the illegal ruck cleanouts were a result of coaching or bad technique, Jones replied: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s something I\u2019ve really seen from them and obviously we\u2019ve analysed them extensively over the last number of years.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

All Blacks forwards Semisi Ta\u2019eiloa, left, and Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho in training. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all for the physical side of the game as everyone is aware so whatever word wants to be associated with it, we just want it to be within the law, so yeah we\u2019re just aware of that going into the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones may have prefaced his latest answer with the observation that he did not want to cause controversy, but the inference could be taken that Rennie, the former Chiefs, Glasgow and Wallabies head coach, is coaching teams to occasionally go beyond the law and put the safety of opposing players at risk.<\/p>\n

Jones appears to be treading a fine line. <\/p>\n

Erasmus wheeling out former international referee Jaco Peyper<\/a> the day before to provide evidence as to why the South Africans don\u2019t slow the game down was good clean fun by comparison. That would appear part of a normal cut and thrust of a big Test week but these implications, labelled to a specific individual, seem a step too far.<\/p>\n

We should not forget either that in 2021 Rasmus was found guilty by a misconduct committee of “attacking, disparaging and\/or denigrating the game and match officials and not accepting the authority of match officials” during a British and Irish Lions tour and banned for two months.<\/p>\n

The first of four consecutive Tests will provide different and more relevant talking points, but it may be a long four weeks otherwise.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, fullback Damian McKenzie appears to have recovered from his ankle injury and is on track to play at Ellis Park on Sunday, assistant coach saying: \u201cHe was sharp today \u2013 he got through what he needed to get through so he\u2019s trending well for being available this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The All Blacks and Boks will name their teams tomorrow night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Analysis: Any inference from Felix Jones’ comments that Dave Rennie is coaching methods that put opposing players at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[789,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-573404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}