Greatest Rivalry tour The schedule Sat, Aug 8, 5am: All Blacks v Stormers, Cape Town Wed, Aug 12, 5am: All Blacks v Sharks, Durban Sun, Aug 16, 5am: All Blacks v Bulls, Pretoria Sun, Aug 23, 3am: All Blacks v Springboks, Johannesburg Wed, Aug 26, 5am: All Blacks v Lions, Johannesburg Sun, Aug 30, 3am: All Blacks v Springboks, Cape Town Sun, Sep 6, 3am: All Blacks v Springboks, Soweto Sun, Sep 13, 9am: All Blacks v Springboks, Baltimore Let the old-school tour begin. The All Blacks are set to embark on a fascinating African safari that will end with four tests against the world champion Springboks. Hayden Meikle asks five big questions ahead of the Greatest Rivalry tour. Who are the key All Blacks? This is a long tour — by modern standards; the chaps from 1924-25, who played 32 games in six months, might scoff at any comparison — and the All Blacks have accordingly named a big squad. All 44 players will need to play their role. Some will be vital to the tourists’ chances of upsetting the odds and winning the test series, some will need to accept their role as “dirt-trackers”, and all will need to hang in there when the going gets tough. George Bell has already come home with injury and more will be invalided during the tour. Assuming fitness and form, these are the most important players if the All Blacks are to dethrone the Boks: 1. Ardie Savea. Well, duh. The captain, the talisman, the world-class No 8. He is sitting out the first couple of weeks of the tour for workload management but can expect to play every minute of every test. Savea is a modern-day All Blacks great but his legacy would be further enhanced if he can captain a team to series victory in South Africa. New Zealand RugbyClassy halfback Cameron Roigard is key to the All Blacks' chances on the Greatest Rivalry tour. Photo: NZ Rugby/Smartframe 2. Cameron Roigard. Perhaps the dynamic halfback is the single most important player in the All Blacks squad. He is that good, and the gap between him and the other halfbacks is that vast. Roigard is something special and should relish the harder grounds in the Republic. 3. Ruben Love. Beauden Barrett is yesterday’s man, Damian McKenzie appears to be a fullback now, and Richie Mo’unga has to wait for an injury. This is Love’s time to shine. Cocky and capable, he is about to face the biggest challenge of his life. 4. Ethan de Groot/Tyrel Lomax. Counting the two props as one big unit. You will not get far against the Springboks without a decent scrum, and the All Blacks’ heavyweights know they need to set the platform. De Groot is in career-best form but Lomax needs to stay healthy. 5. Jordie Barrett. The poster boy in the backs is Will Jordan, but the glue is the youngest Barrett brother. Jordie is the total package at second five and his form on both sides of the ball will be vital if this series is to be won. How will the warm-up games go? Honestly, it is hard to see anything other than four comfortable All Blacks’ victories in the games against the franchises. The Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions were (usually) tough to beat at home in the old days of Super Rugby. But the timing of this tour has messed things up a bit for them. The Currie Cup — the equivalent to our NPC — is happening at the same time, and only some players have been released back to the franchise teams. It is a bit like the Highlanders having to play the Springboks while fielding just a few NPC players, some youngsters and some hangers-on. In saying that, there is astonishing depth in South African rugby right now, so maybe these teams will surprise. Has Dave Rennie got something up his sleeve? The new All Blacks coach had three Nations Championship tests in July to get comfortable in the role and start to make his mark. All were won, so there was no wailing and gnashing of teeth, and there were also some pleasing signs after two years of mixed fortunes for the team. Rennie’s DNA seemed obvious as the All Blacks looked to play at pace and keep the ball in hand a lot more. Will that approach work against the fearsomely physical Springboks? They do have skill and pace, but their dominance has been based on muscle, the aerial kicking game and the good old rolling maul. As much as the rugby world watches to see if Rassie Erasmus and Tony Brown have something special cooked up in Bok country, there will be interest in what Rennie and company can bring to the All Blacks. New Zealand RugbyHighlanders and All Blacks loosehead prop Ethan de Groot has been in outstanding form this season. Photo: NZ Rugby/Smartframe What role will the referees play? This is not 1976, and All Blacks fans do not need to worry about South Africa getting all the right calls from home referees. Nevertheless, the appointment of northern hemisphere referees for three of the four tests cannot be ignored. Matthew Carley (England) will whistle the first test, Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) has the second, and Karl Dickson (England) will be in the middle for the fourth test in Baltimore. Australian referee Angus Gardner will handle the third test. You can expect the Springboks to want to slow the game down, and the northern referees will perhaps be more used to that style. Whatever happens, let us hope the dreaded video referee does not play too big a role in the series. What is going to happen? And now we reach the part where we have to make some actual predictions. Optimists might point out the All Blacks have won 16 of their 28 tests in South Africa since the great 1996 series. Pessimists highlight the fact the All Blacks have won just two of their five tests over there in the Rassie Erasmus era, and send shivers down the national spine with a reminder of the horror show the last time these teams met, when the Boks won 43-10 in Wellington. Anything could happen. It is possible the All Blacks are going to get better, and the Springboks are not as good as feared. But this is going to be a tough tour. The All Blacks will win all the midweek games but I can see the Springboks winning the test series 3-1. hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz
