All Blacks coaching legend hits out at Springboks’ ‘against the spirit of the game’ tactics and urges Scott Robertson’s side to ‘give it to them’

Former All Blacks coach Mike Cron hopes Scott Robertson’s side can put the Springboks in their place when the two sides meet in the Rugby Championship.

New Zealand and South Africa, who are the top two-ranked sides in the world at the moment, will clash in a much-anticipated double header in September.

Both teams warmed up for the upcoming southern hemisphere competition with perfect records in the July internationals as the All Blacks whitewashed France in a three-Test series and the Boks overcame Italy (twice) and Georgia.

Springboks’ controversial tactics

South Africa and their head coach, Rassie Erasmus, caused plenty of debate, however, as they tried out a couple of tactical innovations against the Azzurri.

It stirred debate around the world with some praising their ingenuity while others suggested an element of gamesmanship and illegality.

Cron, who is known as the ‘scrum doctor’, appears to be in the latter camp and hopes Robertson’s outfit will defeat their arch-rivals in the Rugby Championship.

“That’s the ultimate, isn’t it? You still think back to the World Cup final, you know, I know, and you see some bloody things going on at the moment that are maybe not quite in the spirit of the game, you think it would be nice if the ABs get up and just give it to them,” he told DSPN with Martin Devlin.

New Zealand will need to improve for the upcoming tournament which starts in mid-August, but Cron is expecting them to be better following their recent games with France.

Despite a couple of unconvincing displays against a French side that kept their star players at home, the coaching legend, who spent 15 years with the All Blacks between 2004 and 2019, believes that they will be ready for the challenges that await them in the Rugby Championship.

“It’s a difficult period for them,” he said.

“I understand that period where you’re two and a half years out from a World Cup, you’ve got one eye on this Saturday and another on the World Cup selection. So I understand what Razor and his selectors are going through.”

Gap between Super Rugby and Test level

Cron added: “To be fair, there’s a very big gap between Super Rugby and the top international rugby. It’s bigger now than it’s ever been.

“It takes the boys, I find, a few Test matches to get up to international speed. The ABs will be a hell of a lot better heading into The Rugby Championship for having those three Tests and getting up to some sort of international speed.

“Although we had a weakened French team, it’s still international rugby, so they’ll be far better for it.

“And it’s just about closing that gap between Super Rugby, how it used to be with the Jaguares, South Africa, the Sunwolves, it’s a completely different product now. And the gap between, getting and having them for a week and a half, and getting them ready for the first Test, it is quite difficult.

“So I fully understand where they’re at.”