All Blacks will face intimidating atmosphere at Ellis Park, says Thinus Delport
Wednesday 22 July 2015 17:45, UK
Sky Sports' Thinus Delport has warned there will be an intimidating atmosphere awaiting the All Blacks on Saturday.
New Zealand travel to South Africa to take on the Springboks in the second week of the Rugby Championship as they seek to continue their winning run in the competition after beating Argentina 39-18 last week.
The Ellis Park fixture between these two over the years has served up some fantastic rugby, with the 2013 edition labelled as one of the great games in recent times, and last year's showdown providing late drama in the form of a Springbok win courtesy of the boot of Patrick Lambie.
Former Springbok Thinus Delport is expecting a similarly intense game this weekend, but warns New Zealand that there will be no warm welcome for them in Johannesburg.
"It will be a very intimidating environment for the All Blacks," said Delport. "When that crowd starts to sing the anthem before the game, it's a tough place to be if you're not a Springbok.
"It's brilliant. A sold-out Ellis Park against New Zealand always delivers an amazing atmosphere.
"I think it's going to be a high-scoring game, but a close one. The last couple of years this fixture has played out it's been a high-intensity affair with a ball in hand approach - and I can't see either side taking focus away from that.
"I think it will be an attractive game.
"South Africa are probably going into the game as underdogs at home, even though Ellis Park has been a bit of a fortress for them over the years.
The Springboks lost their opening game of the Rugby Championship to Australia 24-20, despite leading 20-7 deep in the second half.
The Wallabies fought back for the win, and in doing so gave the South Africans food for thought as they build towards the World Cup.
Delport said: "The Springboks will be buoyed in front of their home crowd, but there are a few questions that they need to answer this week, in particular how they let slip such a commanding lead.
"The positive from it is that Heyneke Meyer has stuck with largely the same team this week.
"There were injuries to Victor Matfield and Marcell Coetzee that necessitated change, but the rest have been retained which is good to see.
"Meyer has shown that there is merit in picking three opensides who work well with both hookers - Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss - both making an impact with regards to fetching too.
"New Zealand love to play a high-intensity game with lots of ball in hand, so you have to attack that breakdown throughout the match if you want to beat them."
With Marcel Coetzee injured in Brisbane there has been an opportunity handed to Heinrich Brussow, who makes his first appearance for the Springboks since 2011, having fallen out of Meyer’s favour from the outset of his tenure in 2012.
"It's interesting that Brussow has been selected because Meyer was quite frank early on in his time with the Boks in saying that Brussow doesn't fit the mould of the openside he wants," said Delport.
"But he's now recognised the value of having that specialist fetcher that can create chaos at the breakdown.
"The only negative of selecting him is that our lineout options have been hampered.
"With Matfield injured there is already added pressure on Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth and the selection of Brussow adds to that pressure.
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"However the key area that everyone is talking about as the New Zealand weakness is the driving maul.
"It's one of the components they haven't exploited very well in an attacking sense and they conceded two tries to Argentina because they failed to defend it effectively.
"So if there is one place South Africa will try attack the All Blacks it will be with that driving maul, and Heinrich Brussow is an expert at the base of the maul, keeping his head up but maintaining a low centre of gravity so that he's able to either keep pushing or break at a moment's notice."
Meyer has shuffled his bench this week, with several different names finding their way onto the team sheet after the Wallabies loss. Delport says it’s important for Meyer to continue to expose players to the pressure of international rugby with one eye on the World Cup.
"The challenge for every team at the World Cup will be who replaces a first-choice player in the event of an injury.
"The replacement needs to have gained experience in the set-up ahead of time and integrate with the squad and be comfortable with the players as well as environment.
"It looks like Heyneke is trying to give a few fringe players experience so that even if they don't make the initial squad for the World Cup, they are in a position to join the squad at a later date in the event of an injury, and not come into the squad cold.
"One category where South Africa has always been strong is at loose forward; there is a big pool of players to choose from.
"I'm looking forward to watching Warren Whiteley get a run at Ellis Park where he's been making an impact all season for the Lions.
"He will add yet another dynamic to the loose trio when he comes on."
Watch the Springboks take on the All Blacks on Saturday from 3.30pm, live on Sky Sports 1
