Saturday 17 September 2016 15:28, UK
Sean Fitzpatrick says New Zealand's focus on the national side has allowed the All Blacks to create a gulf in world rugby.
The All Blacks won the Rugby Championship with two rounds to spare after beating the Boks 41-13 in Christchurch while the Wallabies halted Argentina in Perth later in the day.
New Zealand players are centrally contracted to the national side, with the NZRU having the ultimate say in player conditioning and welfare, and the 92-Test international believes it is allowing the All Blacks to create a gulf between them and the rest of world rugby.
"Their whole development process right from the grassroots, right through the provincial rugby into Super Rugby, is focusing on making sure that the international team is the best it can be," said Fitzpatrick.
"There's not many other unions, other nations, who have the luxury of that, and it's creating a gulf. Without question it is creating a gulf, which is not good for the game as a whole, as a spectacle.
"That's shown especially in the last two weeks where teams have played very well for fifty to fifty-five minutes and then the gulf opens up when you get the reserve bench coming on."
New Zealand scored six tries in their thrashing of South Africa, an indication that just as the All Blacks are pulling away from the chasing pack, so South Africa are beginning to lose their place at the top table of the global game.
The Johannesburg-based Lions made it into the final of this year's Super Rugby competition by implementing an expansive style, prompting South African media and supporters to call for the national side to adopt the same game-plan.
It has backfired on the Boks, who now have one lone win in the Championship after struggling to see off Ireland in the June internationals.
Former Springbok Thinus Delport believes the players are caught between two styles, urging Allister Coetzee to make a return to the traditional strengths of the Springboks.
"It's about refocusing on the things South African rugby is known to be good for," said Delport.
"Our set piece is under a lot of pressure, and defensively there is a lot of work to be done. Get those basic things right so there can be a little bit of confidence.
"We're not going to be able to play the way the All Blacks are playing, but let's just focus on the traditional South African strengths, get that confidence going, and then we can start building."
"We are caught in a big of a transition, a limbo, we don't know which way we want to play. These guys are under a lot of pressure and they lack a lot of confidence at the moment.
"They've all wanted to move away from the traditional way; we don't have an identity at the moment."
