Noise in South African stadiums tests All Blacks comms

South African crowds are loud and proud and the noise has forced the All Blacks to adjust the way they communicate.

The four-match Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series is locked up at 1-1 after the All Blacks won the opening test at Ellis Park, before the Springboks bounced back to claim test two in Cape Town.

Ahead of the third test in Johannesburg, a game many believe will decide the series given it’s the last match on South African soil, the All Blacks are coming up with new ways to make sure their on-field messages get heard.

The South African crowds are impressive. They’re passionate and vocal and do all they can to help their side get an edge. It’s special to witness and the Springboks no doubt get a palpable boost when playing at home.

However, the incredible amount of noise the fans produced (60,000 at Ellis Park and 62,000 in Cape Town) has made it difficult for the All Blacks players to communicate.

All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair said it’s been tough.

“We got a lot of feedback about how noisy the game was at the weekend, so the actual verbal communication was difficult to take in.”

Blair said that’s forced the All Blacks to adjust.

“So we talked about other forms of communication we can use and also trusting people to be in the right position, so consistency of set-ups gives us confidence to throw the pass and to connect as well.”

Midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown has been to rugby stadiums all around the world and said South Africa was a unique place to play.

“Yeah, it’s very loud. I’m sure we’re all at the stadium and we can feel it, but how cool is it. You definitely feel the energy,” Lienert-Brown said.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about and I guess comms need to be louder and clearer and even a bit of sign language out there that we can work on during the week.”

He said coming up with alternative forms of communication has been part of their build-up to the third test.

“That’s where this week’s really important is that we connect in smaller groups, so if you can’t hear each other out there, we’ve got a plan in place to make sure they know what call is going on.”

Fellow midfielder Jordie Barrett is a strong voice on the field and helps marshall New Zealand’s backline defence.

He said the crowd at Cape Town was deafening.

“Yeah, very loud. Alice Park was loud as well. I’ve got some sympathy for line-out callers and forwards and in the backs we feel it too.”

Barrett said that’s why it’s crucial that the team train together consistently and use that time to develop combinations and understanding between players.

“In those moments, it’s what you do in the preparation week to get really aligned, work on your connections inside and out of here, so I guess you have a sense or a presence of where the people around you are going to be, because in some moments, you can’t hear or see a whole lot.

“You’ve just got to trust one another and hopefully you can implement a plan that is going to work.”

All Blacks assistant coach Tamati Ellison reinforced how important it is for the players to trust each other and said it’s vital the players don’t solely rely on being able to hear each other.

“A lot of it’s non-verbal signalling as well and making sure we’ve got 15 players ready to attack, so people are in the right positions and sometimes it’s just trusting that they’ll be where they need them to be.”

Ellison, a father of six, said in some instances, the only option is for the players to get closer to each other.

“There’s plenty of noise, you’re right,” Ellison said.

“But it’s like anything, same at home when you’ve got six children, you can’t hear yourself think, so sometimes you’ve just got to get a wee bit closer and simplify the message.

“In specific areas, line out calling, play calling, it just makes sense to make sure that message is delivered and that means getting closer as well as keeping tempo to the game, so that’s the challenge.”

The All Blacks name their team on Thursday night (NZT) and the team will be hoping prop Ethan de Groot and lock Josh Lord, who missed the second test with concussion, will be available.

Ellison though was coy on whether they would return for the third test at Soccer City in Johannesburg, which could be even louder than the first two tests, with a capacity close to 95,000 at the stadium in Soweto.

“They both trained well today. It’s good to have more bodies on board versus sending them home.”