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Handre Pollard explains why Springboks aren't greatest ever team
By Rugby365
Handre Pollard has claimed that the current crop of Springboks will need to work harder if they want to be labelled the greatest of all time. The Springboks made it back-to-back Rugby World Cup wins last year in France and they followed that up by winning this year’s Rugby Championship trophy.
However, Pollard believes consistency between World Cup tournaments is still something they need to work on if they want to be remembered as the best.
The 30-year-old believes the All Blacks team between 2011 and 2015 under Steve Hansen set the benchmark high. That team only lost three matches between World Cups.
“That is 100 per cent for other people to judge,” Pollard told Dan Cole and Ben Youngs on the latest episode of the For The Love Of Rugby podcast. “My personal opinion is that we are not there yet. We want to be and we are going to try our very best, but that 2011 to 2015 All Blacks team is still the best team ever.
“The thing is we just need consistent success. We have done well in the World Cups. However, it’s about consistently winning Rugby Championships between World Cups and winning series.
“We are in Europe now and we are trying to three out of three. That is the kind of stuff that makes you one of, if not, the greatest team ever. We still got a little bit to go there, I feel. It’s definitely not something we speak about.
“We just want consistency. With developing young players and rotation, that is going to be hard, but we believe we can do that and still get the results. It’s going to be tough, but we are on our way.”
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Latest Comments
I think it's the least likely possibility Ed.
Go to commentsScotland should win this one, considering they are the settled team compared to Australia. However, that is no guarantee that they will win. The Aussies tails is up, and they are throwing everything at the opposition.
When the Aussie fans cracked up and got angry when Joe Schmidt was appointed, I said to them to be patient, that he will get them on the right track. They said that he is not Australian and he won nothing. Second best. I should mind my own business because I don't know the Aussie ways, which is true as I'm SA.
However, now that he is bringing in results, they are all changing their minds. Joe is all in when he coaches a team. There is no team he supports more than the team he coaches. His quality is shining through properly now.
It's going to be a very tight game, much tighter than people realise. Both teams is playing exciting rugby right now. They both want to win. I'd even go as far as marking this game as the top game of the weekend.
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