Former All Blacks head coach Sir Steve Hansen does not believe that the Springboks want to play a fast, attacking brand of rugby.<\/p>\n
There has been a significant shift in the way Rassie Erasmus\u2019 men play since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with Tony Brown running the team\u2019s attack. Last year, South Africa equalled their record for the most tries scored in a calendar year and attacked with much more endeavour in general.<\/p>\n
Hansen, who faced South Africa multiple times during his coaching career with New Zealand, believes that the Boks still bank on their traditional strengths and that while there are suggestions that they want to speed up the game, he isn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n
Steve Hansen: Springboks don\u2019t want to speed up the game<\/p>\n
He insists that they are still investing in their kicking game and their physicality. Hansen<\/a> says that the Springboks<\/a> are rather predictable, but that doesn\u2019t make it any easier to beat \u2018the best team in the world\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know that they\u2019re going to kick the ball. So your aerial game has to be good, and you have to put pressure on the source, which is the kicker, for a start,\u201d the World Cup-winning coach said on the Rugby Unity podcast, reviewing South Africa\u2019s victory over England.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other side is, they do what they do really, really well, and it\u2019s not flashy, but it\u2019s done with intent, and it\u2019s done with purpose, and it\u2019s done with a high amount of skill for whatever that particular thing is they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Springboks \u2018superpower\u2019 that sets them apart, where it comes from and their \u2018refusal\u2019 to lose \u2013 Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n He continued, revealing how to go about beating Erasmus\u2019 charges: \u201cSo the one thing about the South Africans is they love physicality. So how do you take that physicality away from them when you\u2019ve got the ball? That\u2019s the challenge for teams. England came out and started poorly, and they fed South Africa what they wanted.<\/p>\n \u201cTo beat South Africa, you have to take away what they want. Take away the ability to be physical. So, when you ball carry, use your footwork into contact and don\u2019t just try and T-bone them because they just love it.<\/p>\n \u201cI always found that if we could use great footwork and have them feeling like they can\u2019t get a decent tackle on here, they start to get frustrated. You\u2019re going to have to play at pace against them because they\u2019ve got depth.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir bench is strong, but challenge them to have to play fast. They talk about wanting to play fast, but they don\u2019t really want to play fast. I don\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n Springboks team: Winners and losers as Rassie Erasmus makes \u2018mass rotations\u2019 while star will be \u2018gutted\u2019 by latest setback<\/a><\/p>\n You go into the exam with all the questions and knowing the answers<\/p>\n Ex-Wallabies and Queensland Reds boss Ewen McKenzie agreed with Hansen and believes that France have the tools to put the Boks under real pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree, spot on. It\u2019s a game for quick taps, you want to retain possession,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you can keep the pace of the game up without risking possession. If you have the ball, then they\u2019re left with their rushing defence, so a team like France would theoretically put pressure on them because they don\u2019t mind a rushing defence and they\u2019ll pass through that. You have to play at them with a bit of skill.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Africa give you the shape; you know what\u2019s coming. You know who\u2019s going to get the ball, but it\u2019s a question of whether you can stop Pieter-Steph du Toit. He is going to get a couple of metres.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you go into the exam with all the questions. You know the answers. It\u2019s a question of whether you can put something else out there, and I think retaining possession is part of it. You\u2019ve got to play in a way that frustrates them, and it\u2019s like playing Fiji in some respects. If you can frustrate them, retain possession, the discipline works in your favour.\u201d<\/p>\n Rassie Erasmus on the influence of rugby\u2019s new \u2018set phase\u2019 against England and the \u2018destiny\u2019 of the Springboks losing Etzebeth and Kolisi to injury<\/a><\/p>\n To beat the Springboks, you need to frustrate them<\/p>\n Frustrating the Springboks is crucial to beating them, according to Hansen, a coach who achieved that feat several times during his tenure in charge of the All Blacks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who you are. If you get frustrated, your discipline goes out the door,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what team you are, and different things frustrate different teams. But when you\u2019re a team who\u2019s used to winning, used to getting what you want all the time, which South Africa are, then you\u2019ve got to take what they want away from them. You can\u2019t allow them to have it all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cSo their kick chase game, they don\u2019t always look to catch the ball with their kick chase. So you\u2019ve got to change your mindset about how we\u2019re going to catch them. Rather than having your back guy catch it, the guy that\u2019s running back with the air chaser, get him to go up and catch it, and then they can\u2019t jump through that airspace and take away your eyesight for the guy who is your normal catcher, your last man.<\/p>\n