'Win first, worry about bonus points later'
11 September 2009 (06:47)
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| Richie McCaw © Gallo Images |
New Zealand are primarily concerned with winning their Tri-Nations match against South Africa this weekend and not trying to get pre-occupied by adding a bonus point, captain Richie McCaw said on Friday.
The All Blacks have a mathematical chance of capturing the title for a fifth successive season if they beat the world champion Springboks and score four tries to gain a bonus fifth point at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday.
They must then repeat the performance against Australia in Wellington on September 19 to snatch the title from the grasp of the Springboks who lead the competition on 17 points. New Zealand have eight points, while Australia have seven.
"First and foremost we have to go out to perform and look to win the test match. What happens after that, you see how the game unfolds," McCaw told reporters after his team's final training run on a greasy Waikato Stadium smothered by low-hanging cloud.
"You got out to score tries every week, it would be nice to score four every week. "Maybe at the end of the game, depending on what the state of it is, you might tweak some decisions but the first job is to win the game."
Springboks captain John Smit echoed McCaw's comments and with the weather forecasting rain showers on Saturday, any open-running rugby is likely to be shelved for hard-driving forward play and tactical aerial bombardments.
BASIC ERRORS
"A lot has been written of them having to throw the ball around and chase the five points, but I don't think that is what we will get due to the nature of the weather and the venue," Smit said at the Springboks' hotel.
"I think it will be a game that will come down to the wire. It will be a game where they employ what they think will be the most accurate tactics to get a win first.
"It's not easy at this level, particularly with the two best sides in the world playing each other and I'm sure they will be playing a clever game to make sure the win comes first then look to see what is out there."
The All Blacks have stuttered through their international season, making numerous basic errors that have allowed teams, most notably the Springboks, to build pressure inside their half and then kick penalties when transgressions occurred.
The All Blacks bumbled their way to 28-19 and 31-19 losses in South Africa, with the second match in Durban notable for elementary handling errors and poor decision making.
McCaw said his side had been working hard to eliminate those errors at training all week, and to turn the pressure back on the Springboks.
"It snowballs at times. One error causes three points and then another one and guys get a bit jittery," McCaw said.
"We were under pressure the whole time for those two tests (in South Africa). "We were trying to play from that but it made it tough... we've got to do that to them."
Read more on the Tri-Nations page.
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