Springbok Mobi-Unit coach Duane Vermeulen has played down concerns about the All Blacks’ breakdown threat ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship showdown in Wellington
Breakdowns don’t bother Duane
While Vermeulen dismissed the breakdown as an issue, he stressed the importance of the forwards setting the tone for a Bok backline stacked with youthful talent.
“In rugby, when the pack gets good go-forward ball, then it’ll be nice for the backline to play and to express themselves,” he explained.
“I think the forwards who’ve been selected can get us good, front-foot ball which in turn gives these exciting backs the licence to play some exciting rugby.”
The Boks will head into the clash without talisman Eben Etzebeth, who has been rotated out of the match 23 in a bid to manage his workload.
“You can’t play Eben every single game, you’ll burn the guy out,” Vermeulen said. “You still want him to play for another couple of years, so we need that little bit of rotation.
“Obviously we’ve got RG [Snyman] on the bench. Those guys [Snyman, Lood de Jager and Ruan Nortje] have played really important games, they’ve played big matches.
“It looks pretty weird to have two No 5 locks in your pack, but they play their part and they know exactly what they have to do and how they need to go about their game.
“It’ll be good to see if the guys can make the step up and work without Eben.”
