Satisfied, not happy
Three tour wins in the bank and the mood inside the All Blacks camp is still guarded. Justin Marshall picked up on it straight away.
The former New Zealand scrum-half spoke on The Breakdown after the tourists closed out their build-up against the Bulls, following earlier victories over the Stormers and the Sharks. What caught his attention was not the scoreline. It was the tone coming out of the camp.
“Talking to Dave Rennie, he was satisfied but by no means happy because there were still errors, there were still areas he was concerned about,” Marshall said. He got the same reading from assistant coach Tamati Ellison, off camera.
Marshall’s conclusion is blunt. Good will not be enough against the Springboks. “They have to be white as white, they have to be so very clinical in all areas. The platform needs to be immaculate. If you don’t get platform and parity, you’re on the back foot.”
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Ellis Park is the point
South Africa picked the venue for the opening Test of the four-match Greatest Rivalry series, and Marshall does not believe that was an accident.
“Ellis Park is a beast. You know you’re in a hostile environment, an environment where it’s basically the heart and soul of Springbok rugby, it’s their Eden Park.”
He expects roughly 90 per cent of the ground to be behind the home side. Most of this New Zealand squad has never played a Test in that stadium, and Marshall was clear about what happens to teams who arrive there unprepared for the volume. His advice was to stay tight, galvanise, and treat the noise as the reward rather than the obstacle: “that’s why you put the boots on, that’s why you put the jersey on.”
The 53-year-old also expects the surroundings to lift the home players. Springbok sides tend to grow at Ellis Park, he said, chests out, a little taller than usual.
No overconfidence in the squad
The three warm-up performances improved as the tour went on, particularly the last two, and the players know where they want to get to. Marshall’s point is that they have not arrived yet, and nobody inside the group is pretending otherwise.
“All those elements within their performances, they know that they’re there, they know where they want to get to, but they’re still working towards it. There’s no overconfidence there, so they are aware of the task ahead of them at Ellis Park.”
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