The unbeaten All Blacks will face a significant increase in intensity when they meet the Springboks in the first Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at Ellis Park on Saturday.
New Zealand have made an impressive start to their tour of South Africa, following a narrow victory over the Stormers with emphatic wins against the Sharks and Bulls. Their latest success came on Saturday, when they defeated the Bulls 50-19 in Pretoria.
However, All Blacks coach Dave Rennie believes the four-Test series against the Springboks will present a much greater challenge than the matches played so far.
“We know that the intensity level, the quality that we’re going to come up against next week is, you know, three, four, fivefold,” Rennie said. “We’ve played reasonably well on tour and we know we need to up the ante.
“It was almost like we were training for the Springboks, the Bulls were coming a lot harder defensively,” he added. “Look, it’s good for us. We’ve now got a game at altitude, guys have got an appreciation for that. I thought we worked really hard in those circumstances and will be better for it.”
The opening Test begins at 17:10 South Africa time on Saturday, 22 August, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus said his squad had recovered well and was ready for a demanding run of matches against New Zealand.
“We are pleased that the players are well recovered and ready to give everything for the forthcoming Tests against the All Blacks,” said Rassie Erasmus.
“It will undoubtedly be a very challenging tournament, but we are looking forward to it as a collective. This series is almost like playing the knock-out stages of a Rugby World Cup because we are facing one of the world’s best week in and week out, and we all understand the magnitude of the RGR series.
“It’s a new and exciting challenge, and we have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the group of coaches and players who remained behind in South Africa in the last two weeks, so we will finetune the areas of our game, which we would like to improve next week as we get ready to take the field.”
Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar and utility forward Elrigh Louw, who were released to represent the Bulls in their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry match against New Zealand, are expected to return to the Springboks squad on Sunday.
The two sides will play four consecutive Tests. The series begins in Johannesburg before moving to Cape Town for the second match on 29 August. The detailed fixture list names Cape Town Stadium as the venue, while the series itinerary also refers to the match as being at DHL Stadium.
The third Test will be staged at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 5 September, with the series concluding at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, United States, on 12 September.
New Zealand’s tour schedule also includes a meeting with the Lions at Ellis Park on Tuesday, 25 August, between the opening two Tests.
The All Blacks’ tour results and remaining fixtures are:
– Friday, 7 August: Stormers 21-38 New Zealand, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
– Tuesday, 11 August: Sharks 0-54 New Zealand, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
– Saturday, 15 August: Bulls 19-50 New Zealand, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 19:00
– Saturday, 22 August: First Test, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 17:10
– Tuesday, 25 August: Lions v New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 19:00
– Saturday, 29 August: Second Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, 17:10
– Saturday, 5 September: Third Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, 17:10
– Saturday, 12 September: Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, United States, 23:00 South Africa time
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