Pre-Test talkfest hints at high stakes

Points scoring in Test rugby is not confined to the field, and the onset of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry is a reminder of the battle among the respective coaching panels to score the most precise pre-game ‘tactical’ hit in the build-up.

Do referees take any notice? Are they affected by all the talk? Do they read the newspapers or watch their Facebook feeds?

Given the acreage of newspaper space it takes up, does it all matter?

You could say it all adds to the build-up and is part and parcel of Test rugby.

But at the same time it is all rather tiresome, and often wasted energy. Perhaps that is another goal, getting under the skin and taking rent free space in the minds of the opposition.

The All Blacks’ regular complaint is about the slowing down of ball at breakdowns, and, quite rightly, the amount of time it takes forward packs to decide what they are going to do before a lineout, all while gasping a little more air into their lungs.

This week the Springboks have talked about ‘tucked shoulders’ being used by the All Blacks at the breakdown, often with a ‘reversed-arm non-wrapping action.’

Former Boks coach Nick Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast, “There’s been a bit of a phoney war, a lot of mortars lobbed over out of the trenches at each other and, ironically, using the media to get you points across.”

This has apparently become increasingly necessary because World Rugby has ruled that teams cannot now meet separately with the match officials before games – they have to go in together. You can only imagine what that exercise is like. Any bets on how long a conciliator will be required to join the meetings?

“It’s been a very interesting build-up,” Mallett continued.

“The All Blacks started quite early by saying South African teams tend to slow the ball down. They want to go from set piece to set piece. That’s not the game we’d like to show the world. We want to show our skills, running rugby, ball in play, all that sort of stuff.

“Then there was a lot of quiet from the Springboks for a while. For about a week they were digesting what the All Blacks were saying.

“Then this week there were some very cogent comments made by [analysis coach] Felix Jones and by Rassie [Erasmus], not directly contradicting the All Blacks, but putting out points that were factual. That was very effective, utilising the media.

“The comments the Boks have been making have been around the maul defence, around cleanouts at the ruck – in particular, the tucked shoulder, taking players past the ball to enable the pick-and-go to become much easier. It’s been quietly, but cleverly done.”

The All Blacks don’t have that on their own; Australian teams have it down to a fine art, and the French and Irish weren’t too bad either in the Nations Championship.

At the same time, Mallett acknowledged the rugby was the thing.

“I hope we remember it for the rugby and not for the refereeing decisions and the yellow cards and red cards, which have become pretty prevalent in recent times.”

The Springboks also had a responsibility to play within the laws, and this applied to set-up times at lineouts and scrums.

“I’d like them to be clear with us too about, if we get together and we’re having a big discussion about lineouts, to say, ‘Let’s get in there, let’s get the ball in within 30 seconds.’ That’s what the law says. The scrum should be set within 30 seconds. That’s what the law says. Let’s do that.

“But, apart from that, no one is allowed to tell anyone in rugby how to play. It’s a chess game. You utilise what you have got to your advantage that the opposition don’t want you to use.

“So, if we double-shove a scrum because we’re better than them, that’s our priority. We have the right to do that. We have a right to go for a driving-maul try.

“We don’t need to do peel-offs and pretty moves in the backline if we don’t want to. If we only want to do three phases and kick and up-and-under in a contestable, that’s up to us.”