Gert Smal believes that taking on the best in the world can only help the development of Ireland's less experienced players, writes GERRY THORNLEY

NOBODY PLAYS the All Blacks (except for Australia) more than the Springboks, and nobody beats them more than the Springboks. Aside from familiarity though, the Springboks are also the one team that can stand consistently up to the All Blacks physically and even bully them a little. Ireland are always punching above their weight.

Gert Smal, a one-time Springboks number eight, was assistant to Jake White in South Africa’s 2007 World Cup triumph, and both were suitably impressed by the way the remodelled All Blacks kicked off their season.

White (now the ACT Brumbies coach) said the All Blacks were already far and away better than everyone else. Repeating how amazed he always is at the way New Zealand can just produce fresh All Blacks as if on tap, similarly Smal said that Steve Hansen was definitely building something special. “It’s not just their speed, it’s their strength and also their skill level. They test you in every aspect of the game.”

All that said and done, Smal was adamant that Ireland were not going to stand back and admire them. “One thing I like about the Irish is they’ve got a lot of grunt and they won’t stand back to big guys,” said Smal, who drew on an Ireland A win in the Churchill Cup final over England in 2009.

“They were big guys as well and we had quite a small, inexperienced Irish side. It was for me, a coaching experience to see how small guys take big guys apart.

“But that was the England B side and we’re obviously taking on the best side in the world now. This side can become a massively strong side, but I think the importance for us is to play against these guys as much as we can to lift our game, and not just as a whole team but as individuals as well. To really feel what the intensity is like at this level.

“The young guys must aspire to be at the level where you just don’t want to be the best in Europe, you want to be the best in the world, and that takes a little bit more than just being in an academy set-up in a provincial set-up and then you just play Heineken Cup games. This game is much more than that.”

In that regard at least, Smal maintained he was encouraged by the performances of the squad’s less experienced players. “It was a massive, massive challenge for them and they really stood up quite well. I was really impressed. It’s not the finished product and there’s a still a huge amount of work to be done there but I’m very glad they showed a fair amount of confidence that they want to contest at this level.”

And for all the confidence which the Leinster contingent particularly had generated in their retention of the Heineken Cup, Smal noted, “last Saturday showed the massive difference between provincial rugby and international rugby. It’s 15-20 per cent higher.”

The revamped Irish scrum held up pretty well, save for a couple of indirect penalties for late feeds when the scrum was still shaking from the hit, until the pressure told in the last quarter.

“The tactic that they use is they engage on the hit on your ball so obviously all that power comes back and they have a very experienced frontrow.

“Their systems are in place, so their speed over the mark is very good and if they keep on walking with you then you’re a little bit on the back foot.

“But I think we got out of it quite well even if they heaved us back, and the guys just stuck together and we went back to them. There was one or two scrums where we got some front-foot ball as well.”

While another trick will be to apply more pressure on the All Blacks’ throw, Smal was also encouraged by the way Donnacha Ryan called the Irish lineouts. “It was very good calling from Donnacha, and I said it to him after the game, and during the course of the week. He’s a guy, at the moment, who’s really stood up and he does a lot of homework.”

Smal noted that only Paul O’Connell and Leo Cullen called lineouts when he arrived, but to that list can now be added Ryan, Mike McCarthy, Dan Tuohy and Devin Toner.

A battalion of the Irish players took a limited part, or were inactive, at yesterday’s session, such were the ravages of the first Test and this being the 50th week of their season. That was “not ideal” but Smal accepted that it was the same for the Welsh and English in Australia and South Africa (where they also fronted up better last Saturday).

“Absolutely, we’re not happy with where we are, and the amount of turnovers that we had, especially in the high-attacking areas. If we can get that right and get our efforts spot on and get into their half and manipulate them in such a way that we can get into what we call their 22 area, then we’ve got a big chance to score tries.

“It sounds impossible but I don’t think it’s impossible. The beauty about this game is the strength in your character and what you’re all about, and the players spoke about that during the course of the week, and you know you can give yourself the best chance to beat them as well, even if it’s in Christchurch. So we’re not going to go and see if we can hold them, we’re going to attack them.”