All Blacks legend John Kirwan has ripped into the Springboks despite their 45-0 win against Italy in Port Elizabeth.
Speaking on The Rivals podcast alongside Bok great Victor Matfield, Kirwan admitted he enjoyed the world champions’ innovative tactics, but wasn’t impressed by the overall display.
“I thought it was the worst and most frustrating performance I’ve seen from South Africa in a long time,” said Kirwan. “I know they scored six or seven tries, I just didn’t feel that they got into the real rhythm of their game.”
However, the ex-All Blacks winger, who coached Italy in the early 2000s, did appreciate the Boks’ opening kick-off tactic that manufactured an early scrum.
“I had a laugh at that because when I was coaching Italy, we did that against Ireland in about 2003 because we felt that we had a better scrum – and we got penalised straight away like South Africa,” he said.
“But I love the innovation. We just need to understand when we are flaunting the laws rather than being truly innovative.
“I love Rassie’s innovation, I do think they are great … but if we introduce some of these things, is it going to fundamentally change what we all stand for in the game?”
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Kirwan added that France and New Zealand would have learned a lot from the PE Test.
“A few of the [Bok] guys on the weekend, I don’t feel they were up to the level of the older guys. So it was really revealing. You’re always looking for a fault or a way to beat the world champions.”
Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
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