Sports
The areas All Blacks must fix to stop their slide and upset the Springboks
New Zealand will start Saturday night’s Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks in a rare position: As underdogs.That is no surprise given the All Blacks’ recent 2-1 series loss to Ireland on home soil, a defeat that has put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons in New Zealand rugby circles.
Coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane have both been spared the axe, however, and now must set about the task of leading an All Blacks resurgence.But that is easier said than done against the world champion Springboks, who will love nothing more than piling on the pain for their great southern hemisphere rivals.Here are four key areas the All Blacks must improve if they’re to be any chance in Nelspruit on Saturday night.
STUTTERING STARTS
In all three Tests against Ireland last month, the All Blacks conceded the opening points. Keith Earls scored the first try at Eden Park; Andrew Porter in Dunedin, Josh van der Flier in Wellington to leave the All Blacks firmly on the back foot.Only in the first Test did the All Blacks recover from their consistently poor starts. And, worryingly, they got progressively worse, despite identifying the need to rectify this area.
By the third Test defeat in Wellington the All Blacks found themselves trailing 22-3 after a horror first half display. Sure, they mounted a spirited second-half comeback but the hole was too big to overcome.There are no excuses for sleepwalking out of the gate in this fashion, particularly given it was an issue the All Blacks addressed internally on several occasions.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster, speaking after the Wellington loss, struggled to explain the reasoning for his side’s lacklustre starts.
“Not really because we’ve talked a lot about it. For some reason we’re not as calm, particularly defensively. It’s more the defence where we’re getting fidgety early, we’re letting a few holes through. Ireland aren’t a team that you can allow to get behind you. That is when they play an up-tempo game. We’ve done that and it’s hurt us. We’ve worked on it but, again, they got that early momentum.”
The All Blacks cannot afford to repeat their sluggish starts against the Springboks. Playing away from home it is imperative to mitigate the intimidating, hostile atmospheres they will confront in successive tests in Nelspruit and Johannesburg.Gifting the Boks an early lead to fuel the crowd will only amplify the magnitude of the task at hand.
MAUL
Conceding two maul tries in the last Test lost to Ireland was the final straw in regards to John Plumtree’s coaching future with the All Blacks.The struggles of the All Blacks forward pack to lay a consistent platform did not reflect well on Plumtree.
The All Blacks being outplayed at the breakdown, and their failings to repel Ireland’s maul, ultimately cost Plumtree his job as forwards coach.Crusaders guru, and Scott Robertson’s righthand man, Jason Ryan has been swiftly ushered in as Plumtree’s replacement.While Ryan has only been with the team for two weeks, he’s made an immediate impression with his direct honesty and technical nous.
“There’s no hiding from it – the All Blacks pack has been dented, it really has,” Ryan said in his first press appearance since assuming responsibility for the forward pack. “We talked about it in the forwards meeting. We didn’t hide anything. We were really honest. And we have to be. We have to get on with it.”
Whether Ryan has enough time to evoke the major shifts needed from the All Blacks forward pack remains to be seen but ahead of the toughest baptism in Test rugby – confronting the Springboks in South Africa – he is targeting the right areas.
“We’ve got to stop mauls, that’s for sure. There’s a bit of work that needs to go into that and our contact area. We’ve stripped a little bit out and concentrated on a critical few things, getting them to understand what they’re trying to achieve and believe in has been the big one.”
MISFIRING ATTACK
Alongside Plumtree, All Blacks attack coach Brad Mooar was jettisoned following the home series loss to Ireland. Mooar’s dismissal reflects the All Blacks attacking struggles after they managed just two line break assists in their last Test – both coming from Ardie Savea to Will Jordan.
Igniting this once world-leading area of their game is a must for the All Blacks. Their attack has become increasingly predictable, relying far too heavily on individual brilliance such as Jordan and Akira Ioane’s solo efforts in the third Test loss against Ireland rather than any form of creative, constructed potency.
Joe Schmidt’s addition to the coaching team should help. While the former Ireland mentor is not with the All Blacks in South Africa, his role as selector/analyst will see him inject fresh ideas from afar. During his time with Ireland Schmidt’s set-move pet plays were renowned. The All Blacks sure could do with executing one of those this weekend.
In Mooar’s absence, the All Blacks are believed to have approached Blues coach Leon MacDonald to join the team. MacDonald, for now at least, is thought to have rebuffed the offer. That scenario leaves Foster to assume the attacking brief, alongside his head coach duties, as he attempts to save his job in South Africa.
DEFENCE
There are two aspects the All Blacks must fix in their defence. The first is basic one-on-one tackling. Too many times against Ireland, individuals fell off front-on tackles to give up easy metres.
That’s partly due to Ireland’s attacking manipulation – the way Jonathan Sexton controlled their phase play to successfully target the All Blacks props.
The second point is the All Blacks line speed and breakdown work.Former Springboks captain Victor Matfield criticised both aspects this week, noting the All Blacks failed to apply pressure through their defence or slow the breakdown which allowed Ireland to build rapid phases against a scrambling defensive line.
“The New Zealand defence has been one of the slowest in terms of coming off the line,” Matfield said. “That’s what gave the Ireland attack a lot of opportunity over the course of that series.
“New Zealand don’t have the best defence at the moment. The Boks can run at them – and I’m not talking about running from deep within our own half.
“If we get into their half, we can build through our forwards and we can come around the corner. Once we set the platform, we can play a few options. That’s how you can build momentum against them.
“They’re not really stopping the opposition from getting quick ball.”
In some respects the Springboks are easier to plan for than Ireland in that their attack revolves around direct, combative carries; the maul and set-piece. That does not mean it is easy to stop, though.
(ESPN)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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