With the Test series kicking off at Ellis Park on Saturday, All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair has made clear the touring side are not coming to contain the Boks — they're coming to beat them. Off the back of their 50-19 demolition of the Bulls at Loftus, Blair acknowledged South Africa's well-known structural strengths but insists New Zealand have identified genuine attacking opportunities in the Bok game plan. The caveat is that their execution will need to be near-flawless: Blair pointed to offload sloppiness against the Bulls as the main area to clean up, noting that against the Sharks they stuck 18 from 20 offloads, a standard they'll need to replicate if they're to generate enough opportunities — because, as Blair put it, those chances will be fewer and further between against the Boks than against any franchise side.
All Blacks back their expansive game to find gaps in Bok armour
All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair says New Zealand have identified specific attacking opportunities in the Bok defensive structure ahead of the Ellis Park opener — but concedes their offload-heavy game will need to hit near-Sharks-level execution to make them count.
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