All Blacks skipper Sam Cane is excited for a war on all fronts against the Springboks when the two old enemies butt heads in Nelspruit on Saturday.
“We know what we’re going to get when we play the Springboks – a confrontational, physical battle,” said Cane, who is set to lead the charge for New Zealand at openside flank against the world champions at Mbombela Stadium.
“Looking at the footage [it’s] big men coming around the corner, running hard, cleaning hard. And then some of the skill in the midfield and outside backs – skill and speed – it’s right up there with the best in the world. They’re the full package.”
He added: “These Test matches over here are some of the toughest I’ve been involved in, and I love playing South Africa over here.
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“Any time when a Test match is super tough is when it’s most enjoyable … when you walk off the field knowing you’ve given everything, and I know it’ll be like that on Saturday.”
In the wake of a historic series defeat by Ireland in New Zealand, Cane was tipped to be axed as All Blacks captain for the tour to the Republic.
Ireland outmuscled and outclassed the Kiwis, dominating them up front, with Cane particularly coming in for stick as a weak link among the forwards.
“I think it’s important we don’t focus on all these things that are going wrong, because the truth is there’s not heaps of things that are going wrong,” he said.
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“[Against] the top teams there are small margins in games; for example, the last game [against Ireland] we lost by 10 when we let in two maul tries which, as an All Blacks forward pack, we don’t see as acceptable.
“Fix something like that and it’s one big rock that we’ve sorted out. So, we’ll focus on what we need to do and there is a lot of stuff we are doing well.”
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The Boks and All Blacks will clash on Saturday in the opening Test of the 2022 Rugby Championship, before they cross paths again a week later at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
