All Blacks raise fresh officiating concern ahead of final Springboks Test
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Consistency.
The All Blacks have raised a fresh officiating concern ahead of Saturday’s final Test against the Springboks in Baltimore.
New Zealand attack coach Mike Blair wants greater consistency at the breakdown and believes illegal actions should result in penalties rather than players being repeatedly managed by referees.
“Our attack is based on our ability to move the ball and move the opposition around, so the cleaner our breakdown, the better for us,” Blair said.
“I think if you are doing something illegal, you should be penalised for it.”
The breakdown has become particularly important to the All Blacks as they attempt to generate the quick possession required to stretch South Africa’s defence.
Blair was encouraged by New Zealand’s ability to get across the gain line during last weekend’s 29-24 defeat at FNB Stadium, but felt the Springboks managed to disrupt some of the speed of their possession.
“There’s a balance with the gain line and ruck speed,” he explained.
“You don’t want one without the other, so it’s a balance of having that. We have improved our gain line through the three Tests, which has been excellent.
“South Africa have a very strong defence and are very collision-based, but they were able to slow a little bit of our ball down.”
While Blair wants infringements punished, he stressed that the All Blacks understand the difficulty facing referees and are ultimately looking for consistency in how the breakdown is officiated.
“I feel for the referees because it’s a really difficult game that they are refereeing,” he said.
“I think you could go through a Test match, and you can pick out 20 or 30 times where you could’ve made a different decision.
“We respect the fact that it’s a really difficult job for the referees at the moment, but what we ask for is consistency within that.”
Blair is also preparing for the possibility of the Springboks changing their approach in Baltimore after moving 2-1 ahead in the series.
“Potentially with them being 2-1, they might look at exploring a slightly different game, and they’ve certainly got the players to be able to do that, and we saw a lot of that on Saturday.”
South Africa can secure a 3-1 Greatest Rivalry series victory in Baltimore, while an All Blacks win would leave the four-Test contest level at 2-2.
