{"id":373481,"date":"2025-08-25T23:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T23:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/373481\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T23:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T23:08:11","slug":"victor-matfield-names-the-one-area-new-zealand-needs-to-sort-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/373481\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Matfield names the \u2018one area New Zealand needs to sort out\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary Springboks lock Victor Matfield has given his verdict on the All Blacks\u2019 loss to Argentina and explained how South Africa should go about winning against Scott Robertson\u2019s wounded side at Eden Park.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All four teams in the Rugby Championship have one win apiece following last weekend\u2019s round two results, where the Pumas defeated New Zealand for the first time on Argentinian soil and South Africa hit back to gain revenge over the Wallabies<\/a> in Cape Town following their round one loss in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Round three will begin September 6 with the eagerly awaited visit of the Springboks to Auckland<\/a>, and Matfield has outlined where the All Blacks are most vulnerable and how South Africa should set about exploiting this weakness to secure what would be a seminal win.<\/p>\n

Appearing on Rivals, the podcast he fronts with ex-All Blacks winger John Kirwan<\/a>, Matfield said: \u201cIf there is one area New Zealand needs to sort out, it is the high ball. These days, we all talk about attack, all talk about linespeed, but that aerial battle is so big in the modern day, especially now that you can\u2019t block it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week we didn\u2019t breathe in South Africa\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not just the aerial battle, but all the scraps also went to Argentina, and they got energy from that. The moment they started getting those loose balls and it is a little bit quick, then their footwork comes into play, those guys run onto the ball, and they get momentum\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand needs to sort out that because that is something that also takes energy away, forwards needing to run back and having to work harder to get into line and get the ball back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matfield also spoke about the pressure that existed in South Africa<\/a> last week as they sought to hit back from their round one loss to the Wallabies. It led to a change in their style of play, and the former second-row believes another grind is the way to go to get a round three win in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can breathe again. Last week we didn\u2019t breathe in South Africa. I promise you, it was almost as if we lost another game all of a sudden it was, \u2018This squad is too old. It\u2019s done. We need to change. Is Rassie (Erasmus) still good enough?\u2019 And I mean, Rassie is Dr Rassie in South Africa, so that pressure was just so high.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut going to New Zealand, the way to beat them is playing South African rugby the way we played last weekend, don\u2019t give them anything, just smother them in their own half, kick those high balls in there, don\u2019t give them space, use your set-piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my thinking. Rassie doesn\u2019t always think like that, so he might be a bit more attacking\u2026 but that is the way we should beat them at Eden Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s hot and who\u2019s not: \u2018Outfought\u2019 All Blacks and Springboks star in strife while Argentina and \u2018outrageous\u2019 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup feats catch the eye<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

New Zealand legend\u2019s bizarre \u2018referee isn\u2019t strong\u2019 rant following the All Blacks\u2019 upset loss in Argentina<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Matfield also stressed the need for having the right players on the pitch when the pressure is at its utmost in Auckland. Reflecting on how the All Blacks lost their way in Buenos Aires, he suggested Robertson didn\u2019t have the players that were needed on the pitch. It\u2019s a modern-day trend that he doesn\u2019t like seeing in the game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also having the right players on the field when the pressure moments come. I looked at that last 10 minutes, the mistakes. There was three or four minutes left, Argentina kicked that long kick into the 22, and you guys [New Zealand] just kicked the ball out and you\u2019re nine points behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018This can\u2019t be the right decision right now.\u2019 We found it the same last week (when losing to Australia in round one). When we were under pressure, we didn\u2019t have the right players on the field. So you need to make sure, especially in that last 15, 20 minutes when the pressure is on, you have the right players on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of teams these days, you see people pulling their captain or someone else, and I\u2019m thinking this is the toughest time. When I was playing, when those tough times were coming, I didn\u2019t want to go off the field. I wanted to be on the field, to be in that moment to have the opportunity to make the big play. Those are the players you want on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonny Bill Williams snaps back at incredible rant from pundit who claims \u2018unforgivable\u2019 All Blacks are \u2018heading down the same path as Wales\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kirwan suggested the wounded Robertson wouldn\u2019t make many \u2013 if any \u2013 changes to his All Blacks team. \u201cIt\u2019s not in the New Zealand psyche to actually change a losing side. You normally get a couple of weeks\u2019 grace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some practical things we need to address; I have never seen an All Black lineout capitulate like that. The high ball reception is an issue. They [Argentina] didn\u2019t kick much to Rieko (Ioane), but they did kick to Sevu Reece, so are they seeing a height issue, a technical issue? And Beauden (Barrett) was back there a wee bit as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, for me, I don\u2019t think they will make many changes at all because these young men will be really hurting this week, and we have this biggest game of the century coming up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing for me is that Will Jordan is one of the greatest rugby players in the world. Ardie Savea is one of the greatest rugby players in the world, Beauden Barrett. There is no talk that they are too old. The talk is we didn\u2019t perform as a team\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWill Jordan has had probably like 200 games where I have never seen him play poorly. He just had a quiet game, but he will be really hurting, and what I\u2019m saying is we need those guys in those critical moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want them to lose confidence in themselves\u2026 they will shut it out and they will be outstanding. I actually think it\u2019s a good thing that we lost, but there are other parts of the game I am worried about. The bench coming on, making a couple of errors in those critical moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: All Blacks great: Springboks clash \u2018doesn\u2019t fall favourably for us\u2019 after confidence-killing Argentina post-mortem<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legendary Springboks lock Victor Matfield has given his verdict on the All Blacks\u2019 loss to Argentina and explained…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[225,90462,130647,704,12,4151,33131,2196,79,16,15,130648],"class_list":{"0":"post-373481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-home-page","9":"tag-internationals","10":"tag-john-kirwan","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-rugby","14":"tag-rugby-championship","15":"tag-south-africa","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-victor-matfield"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115091924818860587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}