All Blacks legend hails steely Bok mentality

All Blacks legend Murray Mexted says the Springboks’ laser focus on the physical contest is a major part of what makes them so formidable.

Mexted, speaking on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin, says this will be one of the toughest battles the All Blacks will have to overcome when they lock horns with the Boks in the first Test at Ellis Park. chincha.pl

“The one thing about South African rugby players is they are channelled. We talk about focus, they are really, really good at focusing on what’s important. The important thing is the confrontation, and they like confrontation,” he said.

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Mexted says that hard edge is one of the defining differences between South African and New Zealand rugby.

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“They definitely have an on-field, off-field mentality which I really admire. They leave it on the field, a disciplined team and they always have been.

“It’s not just the Springboks, it’s rugby players per se [in South Africa]. When you’re over there and playing interprovincial competitions, you sense that same factor with players that are a step lower. They’ve still got that really hard-minded attitude towards the game and after the game they’re perfect gentlemen. Not 100%, there’s always the exception!”

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The former All Blacks No 8 also identified what he sees as the biggest tactical difference between the two sides.

“Their priority is defence and our priority is attack so we’re quite different teams in many respects,” Mexted said.

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images

The post All Blacks legend hails steely Bok mentality appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Frans Steyn has rejigged his Cheetahs lineup for Sunday’s Currie Cup clash against the Vodacom Bulls XV in Pretoria, with several key players ruled out through injury.

Bok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, who claimed his second Man of the Match award of the campaign in last week’s win over the Stormers XXIII, misses out with a shoulder injury.

Veteran fullback Clayton Blommetjies, concussed in that Athlone Stadium clash, is also unavailable.

Jaco van der Walt and Rewan Kruger form a new halfback pairing, with Cohen Jasper switching from the bench to fullback and Jooste Nel coming into midfield.

FRANS: Faf didn’t do everything right

Injuries to flanker Juan Venter (sternum), centre Marco Jansen van Vuren (chest) and prop Frankie Dos Reis (knee) have also reshaped the starting XV, with Simon Miller shifting to flank and Aranos Coetzee drafted into the front row.

The Cheetahs sit second on the log, level with Griquas, while the winless Bulls XV are rooted to the foot of the table.

CHEETAHS – 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Jooste Nel, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk (c), 7 Simon Miller, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Arno van der Merwe, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Juan Smal, 1 Tebogo Nkosi.
Bench: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Tielman Niewoudt, 18 John-Kelly Okonkwo, 19 Curtly Thomas, 20 Sisonke Vumasonke, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 Tiaan Swanepoel, 23 De-An Ackermann.

Weekend teams

Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images

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Quinze jours après l'entrée illégale de 72 000 migrants à Ceuta, un nouvel appel à traverser la frontière circule sur les réseaux sociaux. Et il est pris au sérieux par les autorités du Maroc, comme par celles de l'enclave espagnole, située tout au nord du continent africain. Le ministère de l'Intérieur marocain promet que toutes les mesures nécessaires sont prises pour éviter les passages illégaux. À Fnideq, la ville à la frontière, côté marocain, des mesures de sécurité renforcées.

Former All Blacks flank Josh Kronfeld says no one can match the Springboks when it comes to size and aggression in contact.

Kronfeld earned 54 Test caps between 1995 and 2000 and knows first-hand what it takes to succeed in South Africa, having been part of the All Blacks team that claimed a historic series victory in 1996.

The former opensider believes the physical challenge posed by the Boks remains unique.

“It’s on another level, especially in their size and aggression in the contact,” Kronfeld told Betway. “This is where South Africa are more consistent than most.

“In my time, I knew if I was at the bottom of a ruck, I was going to wear something. If my ankle was lying out on the wrong side, it was probably going to get stood on.

“Everything was pushed to the nth degree of the law and remember that was without the assistance of all those cameras they have today.

“If they had been around in my day, games would have been very stop-start!”

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Kronfeld described South Africa as the toughest country in which to play and believes the challenge extends well beyond what happens between the white lines.

“Of every nation I’ve been to, it’s easily the hardest,” he said. “You can never understand it until you go over and experience South Africa for yourself.

“There are a number of the boys on this tour who hadn’t been to South Africa before.

“One, they wouldn’t have known what to expect to play in South Africa, two, against South African pride and three, against the whole South African people and a country. It’s quite a unique sensation. It’s a unique environment to be in.”

ALSO: All Blacks legend hails steely Bok mentality

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie sought to give his players an insight into that experience by organising a gathering with members of the 1996 touring team during the weekend of the Ireland Test in Auckland.

“They got us 1996 guys for a meet and greet with the young fellows, and many of us were in stitches about some of the old stories from that era.

“They also showed some historical context when the Boks came and toured here and the anti-apartheid protests [in 1981]. They painted a bit of a picture for the boys of what they were going to expect in South Africa.

“New Zealand’s anti-apartheid stance has always been part of the history that you learn through school and when you come into rugby you learn what a sporting culture and a rugby culture means to a South African.”

MORE: Kronfeld laments death of breakdown bandit

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

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