South Africa's assistant coach Felix Jones has revealed that the country's franchises raised concerns about the All Blacks' approach to breakdowns and defensive lineouts during their recent tour victories, with coaches flagging what they termed brutal and illegal tactics ahead of Saturday's Rugby's Greatest Rivalry opener at Ellis Park.
Jones told journalists on Tuesday that feedback from Stormers coach John Dobson, Sharks coach JP Pietersen and Bulls coach Johan Ackermann had highlighted two main areas of concern. The first centred on ruck clearouts, where franchises reported New Zealand players using tucked shoulders and reverse-arm, non-wrapping actions when entering breakdowns. The second involved defensive lineout tactics, with South African teams frustrated at their inability to score from close-range mauls despite creating multiple opportunities inside the opposition 22.
"A few things around the breakdown," Jones said. "They experienced tucked shoulders going into the breakdown, which I know they weren't really happy with, reverse-arm, non-wrapping action. That was a consistent theme. And probably the other big one … the franchises created a lot of opportunity in terms of getting themselves into scoring positions. Maybe 10m out, most of the teams got multiple lineout opportunities there and I think they were frustrated that they couldn't score with their maul. And it's tough when there's someone pulling you or trying to lift a leg or maybe just going off feet for a couple of seconds."
The assistant coach noted that the aggressive ruck tactics were not something he had observed regularly in New Zealand sides until recently, but acknowledged they appeared to follow All Blacks coach Dave Rennie's coaching philosophy dating back to his tenure at the Chiefs more than a decade ago. Jones emphasised that South Africa welcomed physicality but expected opponents to remain within the laws of the game.
Franchise tour provides intelligence
The All Blacks won all three fixtures on their South African leg comfortably, defeating the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls to build momentum ahead of the test series. While those victories came against under-strength provincial sides playing out of season, the matches provided valuable intelligence for the Springboks through close liaison with local coaches and input from current internationals Johan Grobbelaar, Elrigh Louw and Ntuthuko Mchunu, who featured for their franchises during the tour.
Jones expressed confidence that both sides would arrive well prepared for Saturday's encounter, despite acknowledging that no preparation fully replicates the intensity of a Springboks-All Blacks fixture. The world champions have won their previous five matches in 2026, including victories over the Barbarians, England, Scotland, Wales and Argentina, while New Zealand's franchise tour has allowed them to fine-tune their systems under match conditions.
The breakdown and lineout concerns add another dimension to a series already marked by verbal sparring, with Rassie Erasmus on Monday addressing accusations from New Zealand quarters that South Africa slow the game down by raising questions about the All Blacks' physicality at the ruck. How referee Wayne Barnes and his team manage those contested areas on Saturday may prove decisive in determining which side draws first blood in the four-match series.