Umaga: ‘Be ready for anything’ from Boks

Being ready for anything will be the demand on the All Blacks when facing the world champion Springboks in the first of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tests at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Sunday (NZT).

Defensive coach Tana Umaga said they expect to be tested a lot in the areas of South Africa’s strengths and they understand what those areas are.

But, he added, “With the coaching staff they have, we’ve got to be ready for anything.”

Denying the Springboks entry into the All Blacks’ defensive area will be another aspect of their approach, because conceding penalties and being forced into the corners promoted South Africa’s strengths.

“Everyone talks about the set piece, but they’ve grown in their attacking prowess in the backs, and utilising their forwards in the right spaces.

“The fundamentals of making sure you look after the ball and control it as much as you can [are crucial]. That means catching it and looking after it.

“It’s trying to imprint your game, and they’re trying to do that on their side of the ball. We’re trying to do that when we get it to imprint our game and build momentum. It’s the fundamentals of rugby.

“If you look after your own ball, you get go-forward ball and you’re putting pressure on them. It’s more likely you’ll come away with points. If you don’t do that, then you’re on the other side of that ledger.”

Umaga said the All Blacks coaching staff are happy with where the team is defensively, but they’re not content.

“We feel like we can keep on improving, and we know we will need to keep improving coming up this weekend against the world champs.

“We’re not resting on our laurels around that. We’ve made some improvements and, to be honest, sometimes we’ve had a couple of areas that haven’t been going so well as they were in the Nations Cup.

“But, we’ve got a bit of time before we get to this weekend’s game to rectify those.”

The difference between the defensive challenges posed by South Africa and the All Blacks’ last Test opponents, Ireland, came down to the size of the Springboks pack and the relentless wave of big men charging ahead with the ball.

“It’s going to be tough for us. They’ve added some soft touches to their games with the skill set they have within the backs. Once you concentrate on what’s coming to you up front, they look for space out wide, and they look for space in behind. And again, you focus on one thing; you take your eyes off another.

“Our ability to make sure we’re focusing on what’s important at this minute, and then making sure we’re looking in the second around how we can alleviate some of that pressure.”

Umaga said Damian McKenzie got through what he needed to in their Tuesday training session and he was trending well towards the weekend.

“That’s all we can ask. Our medical staff and strength and conditioning staff have done a good job making sure they’re taking every precaution they can, while making sure he puts his best foot forward to be available for the team.