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'Murder us in South Africa': New Zealand pundit has grave fears for All Blacks
By Ben Smith
A New Zealand radio pundit has shared grave fears for the All Blacks ahead of their two Test tour of South Africa after their 38-30 loss to Argentina.
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Rugby Run co-host Mark Watson believed that the rest and rotation policies during Super Rugby for top All Blacks has failed to deliver, evidenced by Saturday night’s defeat.
He said there were “no excuses” for the “dreadful” performance which saw Los Pumas hit the front in the last 20 minutes and end up with an eight point buffer.
“We kill and we bastardise Super Rugby, we are resting and rotating our All Blacks because we want them fresh,” host Mark Watson told SENZ Radio.
“It apparently is a performance enhancer. Can someone show me the evidence of how rest and rotation in Super Rugby has been a performance enhancer for this All Black team over the last five years? All it’s done is continue to erode Super Rugby.
“But if we’re going to put all our eggs in the All Black basket, and we’re going to kill NPC, and we’re going to kill Super Rugby. We’re going to kill our sevens opportunities the Olympic Games, then this All Black team needs to win. There are no excuses. That performance last night was absolutely dreadful.”
Despite another Test against Argentina at home this week, Watson looked out to upcoming South Africa tour where the All Blacks will play the Springboks twice.
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The Springboks opened their campaign with a 33-7 demolition of the Wallabies in Brisbane to take the lead in the Rugby Championship race.
Watson predicated that unless the All Blacks find a way to improve, the Springboks will “absolutely murder” the All Blacks.
“Where’s the improvement going to come from? How are we going to turn this around? Because I saw a South African team last night play Australia, and they should have probably put 60 points on that Australian team,” he said.
“They are going to absolutely murder us in South Africa.
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“I’ve never, ever bought into this mantra, oh, you know, the fear of the All Blacks is gone. Well, I’m now starting to believe that perhaps the all around the All Blacks has gone.”
Ben, your motives seem transparent. By highlighting this article, you appear to be laying the groundwork for future criticism of the Springboks. Your hope for an All Blacks victory in South Africa suggests an intent to use this article as ammunition for a "what were you talking about murder?" moment, reinforcing your negative stance on the Boks.
If I'm right, this approach comes across as biased, rather than objective sports commentary. You're seemingly trying to discredit the Springboks again, riding on the coattails of an article you hope to oppose later.
When are you going to give credit where it's due? It's time for a more balanced perspective on the Springboks' performance and achievements.
lets wait and see didnt we lose a series against ireland and drew a series in south africa that saved foster. so there is hope for robertson
Please keep in mind that Mark Watson is paid to be a hysterical drama Queen, and statements like this headline were made so people would PHONE IN TO HIS RADIO SHOW.
Having said that, going on their last shambles of a performance, yeah it’s looking grim. The ABs are disjointed and look very, very confused.
It’s fixable, though.
Time to step to the coaching plate, Surf Jesus. There are some big problems for you to fix.
Plse drop Dmac and Jodie.Bring in HP, he's proven in super rugby he's got an all round game.HP outplayed Damc in super final
Spot on, boks going to tear AB apart.Unless....
This so called pundit has disappeared up the orifice of his assumptions.
come on. Give Argentina some credit for their great win. Surely,Kirwan and even Wilson should be able to appreciate a deserving winner?
However, all is not lost. NZ will always be a factor for the top nations to contend with.
Robertson and his Super Rugby coaches with no international coaching experience will eventually learn that SR tactics and standards do not translate into international rugby.
It was no coincidence that the ABs fortunes reversed dramatically under Fozzie when an experienced international coach (Schmidt) was parachuted in.
It is very frustrating that the ABs continue to fail at executing complex game plans, and frequently get beaten, or challenged very closely by teams who are very limited, but execute a simple plan very well. It should be clear that this is where this teams needs to get to - execute a simple plan well and build on that.
Not really a major factor
Not expecting to lose and not preparing for scenarios accordingly
Plenty of time to win the game at 35-30 and 8 mins to go but it never looked likely
Leadership
Discipline
BAD errors - ie Reece, Ardie/Dmck and Blackadder
14 points gifted there
But to me it’s the coaching already
There is no game plan I can see and then players aren’t playing what’s in front of them
Something is badly wrong and what on earth has happened to Ryan? The forwards have gone powder puff!
Looks like at best we will have S Barrett and Tuipolotu back for SA - good grief we need them to have any chance of keeping it a contest
Many reasons for the loss. But surely Argentina let a few opportunities slip too as well as making errors?
What was the story with Anton Lienert-Brown rushing out of the line all the time? It looked like NZ were trying to employ him as a Jesse Kriel. Argentina's first 3 was the 3rd time they had broken through. Anton Lienert-Brown had rushed out leaving a hole as wide as the Tasman sea. He then just stood there, until the Argentinians noticed and piled through. No way they try this unless they think Argentina will not be close.
Reckon it will be really competitive in SA. No murders likely to take place. Will be a great contest
Don't write off the AB's.
Never. Boks are playing well, AB's maybe a bit off their game, but AB's vs Boks is a whole different ballgame.
It will be close.
I'm a Saffa.
Imo they made the mistake us South Africans make almost every year against Aus. One eye already on the next opponent. 2018 we lost to Aus and Argentina and then went on to win in Wellington. The AB’s are obviously targeting the JHB game, so I wasn’t too surprised that they slipped up.
*aura