Warning. The following content contains some disturbing information. The Springboks are a very good rugby side. But chances are you already knew that. They have beaten the All Blacks in four of the last five games, including a 43-10 shellacking in Wellington last year. The All Blacks are under new management now. Dave Rennie has taken the reins, and former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains likes what he sees. But Mains also rates South African coach Rassie Erasmus as a very clever operator. The teams will meet in the first of four tests early Sunday morning New Zealand time. “I think we know what to expect,’’ Mains said when approached for comment. “If you’ve watched South Africa over the last two or three years, and particularly when they’ve played against the All Blacks, the intensity will be at a very high level. “This is not a South African team that evolved where they play 10-man rugby, kick everything and all their outside backs are just great defenders. “This is not one of those teams. This is a team that can play the same style of rugby as the All Blacks. “They’ve got very skilled and very fast outside backs. So I wouldn’t be going into this game expecting them to mount a 10-man campaign. It won’t be like that at all.” The All Blacks have dispatched the Stormers, the Sharks and the Bulls so far on the Greatest Rivalry tour. But those teams did not have access to their best players. “They played a tremendously fast, effective brand of rugby,’’ Mains said. “We can see what Dave Rennie’s trying to do, and I’m convinced it’s the correct way to play for the current crop of All Blacks that we’ve got available to us. “But the All Blacks haven’t felt the ferocity and the intensity against those teams that they’re going to strike against the Springboks.’’ Mains said if the All Blacks were going to be successful, they would have to match the Springboks up front. That means winning their own scrums and lineouts. He is hopeful the All Blacks loose forward unit will have an advantage in their pace and skill levels. He is also looking forward to seeing Ruben Love take another step up. The 25-year-old Hurricanes pivot was sensational in the Super Rugby Pacific final and impressed in the test win against France. “When the critical games come around, this guy plays better than he does in the ordinary games. That’s the making of a true All Black. “And we’ve seen him, when he’s played for the All Blacks, that he’s lifted his game up and he’s played very well.” Love and halfback Cam Roigard will need to “keep the Springbok loose forwards honest”. “If they start to drift then bang, they [Love and Roigard] will be through there. “I think if there’s one area we are stronger than the Springbok side, it’s our ability across the park to play any sort of rugby we need to on the field.’’ adrian.seconi@odt.co.nz
