South Africa is the only other country to hold the No1 spot which they last held in 2009, when the current All Black reign began. “I hope we can get the same sort of enjoyment from the big event later this year …” Ellis Park is their home and it’s always a great game.
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“I’m 100% certain of this decision”. Once you get on the field it becomes white noise, to be honest. In some ways they could be screaming for you.
“Experience does matter in big games, knowing the conditions we will be facing and the hostility you will find at the ground, matters a bit but you have to be able to impart that on the whole squad”.
The Springboks let slip a 13-point margin away to the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday and Tevita’s Kuridrani’s controversial match-winning try won the game after the full-time siren.
In terms of what the All Blacks expect from the South Africans, Read said he was wary of the dual threat posed by the Springbok forwards and a backline in which flyhalf Handre Pollard shone in the corresponding fixture previous year by knifing through for two tries.
“The crowd certainly bays for our blood and we certainly want to go out there and play as well as we can”. The young but burgeoning midfield partnership of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel should get another go and already the latter has caught some attention.
The All Blacks have beaten Samoa and Argentina so far in 2015 but the trip to South Africa is their first major test they’ve faced this year – with the World Cup in the back of everyone’s mind.
Daniel Carter and Sonny Bill Williams haven’t travelled to South Africa with the squad while Hansen assesses all his options before he names his final 31.
“A lot of people said he won’t play again and now he’s Bok captain”.
“But we can take a lot of positives out of it and hopefully the injuries aren’t too bad”.
Although the All Blacks’ biggest fan base in South Africa is probably from Cape Town, there are pockets of enthuisiasts on the high veldt. “We know the challenge they present and they will be hurting after last week”.
“We have something to prove and as I said before we have to keep improving, we can just rest on where we are now. We need to work on that during the week and make sure we get it right come Saturday night”, lock Brodie Retallick told a press conference.
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The All Blacks are coming off a 39-18 win over Argentina in Christchurch, while the Springboks lost to Australia, 24-20, in the 82nd minute at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
