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Story audio is generated using AI South Africa’s franchises have warned the Springboks about the All Blacks using tucked shoulders when charging into rucks and illegal tactics at defensive lineouts. Assistant coach Felix Jones, whose role includes analysis of the opposition, told journalists on Tuesday that the feedback from the coaches at the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls had contained two main concerns. “A couple of things probably trended from the feedback across the different franchises. “A few things around the breakdown. They experienced tucked shoulders going into the breakdown, which I know they weren’t really happy with, reverse-arm, non-wrapping action. That was a consistent theme. Jean de Villiers 🆚 Ma'a Nonu — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 18, 2026 Running over Barrett and through the centre to dot down at Ellis Park in 2013 💥 Four sleeps till we go again!#SSRugby | #RugbysGreatestRivalry pic.twitter.com/Hcnuu5oJyh “And probably the other big one … the franchises created a lot of opportunity in terms of getting themselves into scoring positions. “Maybe 10m out, most of the teams got multiple lineout opportunities there and I think they were frustrated that they couldn’t score with their maul. “And it’s tough when there’s someone pulling you or trying to lift a leg or maybe just going off feet for a couple of seconds so I think there were probably those two common themes of what they weren’t too happy with.” On Monday Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus, fending off accusations from New Zealand quarters that South Africa slowed play down, raised the issue of what he called the brutality of the All Blacks at the breakdown. Jones pointed out that this wasn’t a tactic he had noticed in the All Blacks until recently. Serfontein ➡️ JDV ➡️ Hendricks ➡️ Serfontein ➡️ Hougaard — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 18, 2026 When you think of #RugbysGreatestRivalry at Ellis Park, this one always comes to mind 👏 pic.twitter.com/KCcZlpq6Uk “It’s not something I’ve seen regularly in them, but definitely this is the feedback we got from the franchises … We’re all for the physical … we just want people to be within the law.” Responding to a question, Jones admitted the clean-out tactics appeared to be a feature of All Blacks coach Dave Rennie’s style, even dating back to his days at the Chiefs more than a decade ago. “That does follow his coaching and then there are some amazing pieces to the play, to the coaching and to how quickly they get their ruck speed going. “But we just thought world rugby’s number one priority is safety, so we’re just super aware of the feedback we did get from the franchises … [about the] clearing action and we just want to make sure that that brutality or that physicality stays within the laws.” Jones reiterated that World Rugby had not raised any concerns over the Springboks’ pace of play. You can see there has been a shift in what they’re trying to do. — Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones Teams have 30 seconds to form scrums and lineouts from the time the referee marks the spot with his foot. The All Blacks are playing a fast game which was different to what they’ve done in the past, Jones said. “I would say if you looked at plenty of metrics you would see certain, significant shifts in the amount of kicking or the amount of ball that they’re trying to hold on to or their phase count … “You can see there has been a shift in what they’re trying to do.” Much of what the three franchises had raised was already known, Jones added. “A lot of it has been a confirmation of what we saw in the Nations Championship; how they are trying to attack, how they’re trying to defend, what they’re doing in their kicking game.” TimesLIVE