Starting well will be the goal of the All Blacks and South Africa in Sunday's (NZT) Rugby World Cup final in Paris. That can be through attack for scoreboard impact or defence to deny and frustrate the other side's ambitions.
All Blacks defence coach Scott McLeod said, "It's no secret both teams will be focusing on the first 20 minutes, I'd imagine. We have talked about that this morning. We will need to be extremely accurate, show touches that we want to show and be able to apply pressure at the same time. The Boks have always come out wanting to start well and we will take our lessons from that."
When asked what defensive challenges will be posed by the Springboks he said, "Definitely their kicking game. We haven't encountered a lot of that so that is something we will build on his week. They are very good at getting into the air and getting the ball back. When they do get it, they put it into space behind, spread it wide and play from there. They have scored tries from their aerial stuff. We will be building our detail into how we can win those moments."
"They are never out of it. They come from a country where they are hardened and they know how to stay in the fight. They showed that at the last World Cup as well."
The review of the Argentina semifinal highlighted the extreme physicality Argentina tried to apply, and South Africa would be similar.
"They apply a lot of pressure and come at you very quickly. On the other side of the ball, big men are running down hard. We can't sit and wait."
"The set-piece needs to be extremely accurate. What has been shown throughout the tournament is that with the scrum you need to be on it."