SHOULDER CHARGE: Boks muse aloud about All Blacks’ possible illegal breakdown tactics

Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones was forthright in his assessment that the All Blacks’ entries into rucks could be illegal, based on feedback from club coaches and his own analysis.

It’s still three days to the first of four Tests between the Springboks and All Blacks, and already there is enough spice from either side to liven up the blandest of dishes.

On Tuesday, Bok assistant coach Felix Jones pulled no punches in his assessment that the All Blacks under coach Dave Rennie tend to hit rucks illegally.

It was an unusually frank and blunt assessment of an opposing team in the lead-up to a big Test. But it seems the gloves are off and the Boks are out to make the tourists know they’re on to them.

Jones, who is often the man in the coaching set-up tasked with finding chinks in the opposition’s armour, has gleaned his intelligence from extensive debriefs with the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls coaching staff, and from hours of video clips of previous All Black games.

Obviously, it’s not only their questionable ruck tactics that have caught his eye, and he did venture some opinions on other aspects of their game.

But you can be sure his public insights are not the entire picture that the Boks have built up of Rennie’s All Blacks.

“A lot of it [information from SA clubs] has been confirmation of what we saw in the Nations Championship – how they’re trying to attack, how they’re trying to defend, what they’re doing in their kicking game and trying to develop there,” said Jones.

“A couple of things probably trended across the feedback across the different franchises. A few things around the breakdown they experienced, like tucked shoulders going into the breakdown, which I know they weren’t happy with. It’s a reversed-arm-type non-wrapping action. That was a consistent theme that came out.”

Jones was not shy to call out the actions, which caused some controversy in the Nations Championship when All Blacks flanker Luke Jacobson crashed into the head of Ireland’s Josh van der Flier and was only given a yellow card.

Jacobson led with the shoulder and dived recklessly into the ruck at pace.

Asked if this trend of leading with the shoulder and a tucked arm into rucks was just poor technique or deliberate, Jones was clear.

“Well, I don’t think it’s something I’ve really seen with them over the last number of years,” said Jones.

“We’ve obviously analysed them extensively, but definitely this is the feedback we got from the franchises. We’ve seen there’s an element of that [tucked arm] in there. We’re all for the physical side of the game, as everyone is aware, so whatever word wants to be associated with it, we just want it to be within the law.