Springboks take on All-Blacks in epic clash
If you’re a rugby fan, it simply doesn’t get any better than Saturday’s match-up between the New Zealand All-Blacks and the South African Springboks. The match will open up the 2010 Tri Nations tournament featuring these two teams along with Australia to determine who earns the title of the best rugby team in the Southern Hemisphere and for all intents and purposes, the world.
As the All-Blacks host the Springboks at Eden Park, in Auckland, they’ll have plenty of pressure and plenty of reasons to win. First is that the Springboks stunned the All-Blacks at last year’s tournament, winning all three games against the Kiwis and taking the Tri Nations top spot, something New Zealand had managed the previous four years.
Secondly, with the 2011 World Cup getting set to take place next year in New Zealand, seeing how the All-Blacks will fare against top competition at home will be an important yardstick to measure their 2011 hopes against. Captain Richie McCaw and coach Graham Henry have insisted that’s not factoring too much into their thoughts and hopes going into this year’s Tri Nations tournament, but it’ll be an important Test for all New Zealand fans.
Lastly, bragging rights. While New Zealand is currently ranked no.1 and the Springboks no.2, there is little to pick between the two teams and should the Boks win in New Zealand, it should be enough to shoot them to the top of the rankings chart, if only temporarily.
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Both teams have looked rock-steady in their 2010 tours leading up to the tournament. The All-Blacks humiliated Ireland’s national squad 66-28 earlier in the summer, and recently showed their diversity by beating the Welsh twice in a row in late June. They first used their fast moving offence to cut through the Welsh, scoring five tries on June 19th in a 42-9 rout.
For the second game, the Welsh tightened up and played a much cagier game, defending the try. But the All-Blacks showed they had the discipline and the kicking power to still win a comfortable 29-10 victory, as the boot of Dan Carter accounted for five kicked penalties and one conversion.
The Springboks have also been firing on all cylinders recently. After having a tough match against Wales on June 5th, winning 34-31, they came back to crush Six Nations champions France 42-17 when Les Blues ventured down to South Africa. A spirited Italian team put on an all-time great effort in losing to the Springboks 29-13 on June 19.
All expectations were on the Boks to come back in their second game a week later and crush the Italians in their second match to send a message to the rugby world, and that’s exactly what they did, winning 55-11.
Team breakdown
The South African scrum was their weak point last year, but it’s shored up considerably recently. It’s their line-out that is the most fantastic however, easily the best in the world and unlikely to have that challenged for the tournament, as they have a tremendous amount of depth to draw upon.
The boot of Morne Steyn will also be an important factor for the Boks, and they’ll be relying on his place-kicking abilities to score points against a tough Kiwi defence.
The All-Blacks will have the pleasure of seeing Ma’a Nonu back in the their line-up at the back position, and props Ben and Frank Owen have been proving their worth as props, with the Kiwi scrum being perhaps a bit stronger than the South African one.
Overall though, the New Zealanders may have a more solid game than the Boks, who have more success with the set-piece attacks emerging from their strong line-out.
While there’s little to pick between the teams, the home-field advantage of playing at Eden Park should give the All-Blacks a solid boost and give them enough to come in as favourites for Saturday’s game.
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