‘SUPER ARROGANT’ JUSTIN MARSHALL STRESSES ‘QUITE UNIQUE’ ALL BLACKS SITUATION AHEAD OF SPRINGBOKS SHOWDOWN
Former scrum-half Justin Marshall believes that the All Blacks are in the ‘unique’ situation of being underdogs heading into a Test match.
The All Blacks arrive in South Africa with the odds stacked against them according to the bookies, a rare occurrence, after a somewhat underwhelming start to Scott Robertson’s tenure as the team’s head coach.
Of the nations that have played more than one Test match in the Republic, New Zealand are the most successful visitor but even so, the Springboks are favourites ahead of the next chapter in rugby’s greatest rivalry – a position that ex-All Blacks scrum-half Marshall is happy to be in.
Historically true statement
With the All Blacks enduring a testing 2022 under former head coach Ian Foster, the side bounced back to reach the Rugby World Cup final, ultimately falling short to the Springboks.
This year, under Robertson, New Zealand claimed a 2-0 series win over England in rather unconvincing fashion before defeating Fiji and losing their Rugby Championship opener against Argentina. While there was an emphatic response at Eden Park a week later against Los Pumas, there are still questions surrounding the state of New Zealand Rugby right now.
“It’s a really good question because it’s a question that’s been asked in New Zealand as well,” Marshall said during his guest appearance on Supersport’s Final Whistle presents Side Entry.
“I might as well get off to a really good start and be super arrogant straight away and then and then it’s out of the way.
“Because this is historically quite true that the All Blacks don’t ever really enter into a Test match as underdogs but the the recent form of South Africa being World Cup champions and the way that they’ve continued this kind of dominance over the All Black has created this situation.”
‘All Blacks now come here as underdogs’
Indeed, Robertson’s men haven’t impressed so far this year but a win over South Africa at the rugby cathedral that is Ellis Park will go a long way in instilling back belief in the All Blacks again.
But Marshall believes that the swing in the favourites tag has come mostly from the Springboks’ end with South Africa also claiming a convincing victory over the All Blacks in Nelspruit in 2022 before thrashing the All Blacks in their final game before the World Cup at Twickenham.
“It’s quite unique that the All Blacks now come here as underdogs and like you look anywhere and talk to anybody, it’s simply because of how good the Springboks have been,” he said.
“Then you see the way that the All Blacks have now regenerated under Scott Robertson and the performances have been OK. They haven’t been mind-boggling and set the world on fire, have they? So that hasn’t created enough momentum for them to actually come in with parity against the Springbok.
“So they are sitting exactly where they should be, I think for the performance from the five test matches that I’ve had this year and dropping the Argentinian game was a real blow for them in terms of the calendar year they’ve got.
“It’s quite nice to slip in under the radar, though in South Africa believe me.”
2024-08-30T12:22:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd