Oh, how the mighty have clashed! Laurie Mains, former All Blacks coach, has tossed the gauntlet down, declaring that the Springboks’ recent thumping victory over the All Blacks was less a display of brute force and more a tale of questionable choices and mental flubs. Yes, the Boks may have danced away with the Rugby Championship trophy yet again, but according to Mains, New Zealand is nipping at their heels—not in strength, but in strategy.
Speaking on The Platform NZ podcast, Mains dissected the All Blacks' performance, or lack thereof, in their crushing 43-10 defeat in Wellington. “They are [a strong side], but like at half time in that second Test, there was nothing in it,” Mains mused. “It was a pretty equal game, and that was with what I think was not a very well thought-out, selected All Black team.”
"The biggest player in the All Blacks is Fabian Holland. Now, he was put on the bench."
Mains didn’t mince words about the strategic errors that he felt tipped the scales. He pointed fingers at the decision to bench powerhouse lock Fabian Holland and shuffle Tupou Vaa’i from his usual blindside flanker position to lock, a move that put him up against larger opponents, arguably outmuscling him in the scrum. “We couldn’t win our own lineouts because Fabian Holland wasn’t there,” lamented Mains. “We even got pushed back in our scrums, and that was a mental lapse, not a physical lapse. They’re not a stronger scrum than the All Blacks, so it’s a mental lapse, and we couldn’t take high kicks.”
The pressure didn't stop at the scrum and lineouts. Fullback Damian McKenzie found himself dwarfed and outjumped, struggling under high balls against taller wings. Mains highlighted this mismatch with a note of concern for the smaller McKenzie, battling aerially against bigger players.
While the rugby world may be quick to crown the Boks as the scrum kings, Mains’ critique suggests that the All Blacks' downfall was self-inflicted, marred by poor selection and momentary lapses in focus. As the dust settles, it's clear the battle for dominance in Southern Hemisphere rugby is as much about mind games as it is about muscle.
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Oh, how the mighty have clashed! Laurie Mains, former All Blacks coach, has tossed the gauntlet down, declaring that the Springboks’ recent thumping victory over the All Blacks was less a display of brute force and more a tale of questionable choices and mental flubs. Yes, the Boks may have danced away with the Rugby Championship trophy yet again, but according to Mains, New Zealand is nipping at their heels—not in strength, but in strategy.
Speaking on The Platform NZ podcast, Mains dissected the All Blacks' performance, or lack thereof, in their crushing 43-10 defeat in Wellington. “They are [a strong side], but like at half time in that second Test, there was nothing in it,” Mains mused. “It was a pretty equal game, and that was with what I think was not a very well thought-out, selected All Black team.”
"The biggest player in the All Blacks is Fabian Holland. Now, he was put on the bench."
Mains didn’t mince words about the strategic errors that he felt tipped the scales. He pointed fingers at the decision to bench powerhouse lock Fabian Holland and shuffle Tupou Vaa’i from his usual blindside flanker position to lock, a move that put him up against larger opponents, arguably outmuscling him in the scrum. “We couldn’t win our own lineouts because Fabian Holland wasn’t there,” lamented Mains. “We even got pushed back in our scrums, and that was a mental lapse, not a physical lapse. They’re not a stronger scrum than the All Blacks, so it’s a mental lapse, and we couldn’t take high kicks.”
The pressure didn't stop at the scrum and lineouts. Fullback Damian McKenzie found himself dwarfed and outjumped, struggling under high balls against taller wings. Mains highlighted this mismatch with a note of concern for the smaller McKenzie, battling aerially against bigger players.
While the rugby world may be quick to crown the Boks as the scrum kings, Mains’ critique suggests that the All Blacks' downfall was self-inflicted, marred by poor selection and momentary lapses in focus. As the dust settles, it's clear the battle for dominance in Southern Hemisphere rugby is as much about mind games as it is about muscle.