Boks expect more physical Wallabies
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:24
The Springboks expect a more bruising battle. (c) Gallo
The Springboks expect a more physical approach from the Wallabies when the two sides meet in their third Tri-Nations encounter in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
A loss for the Springboks would result in the team finishing bottom of the 2010 Tri-Nations log, while a win would result in the final positions only being decided after the last match between the Wallabies and the All Blacks in Sydney next Saturday.
"We expect them to be more direct if one looks at their selection changes," said Springbok assistant coach Dick Muir on Thursday, adding that the visitors would probably "muscle it up and be more physical."
Fellow assistant coach Gary Gold pointed to the strengthening of the Wallabies' line-out, a more experienced pack and also that the changes probably made provision for more players with experience of playing at altitude.
The Wallabies have made three changes to their pack – at hooker Stephen Moore replaces Saia Fainga'a, Mark Chisholm replaces Dean Mumm in the second row, and Ben McCalman starts in place of Richard Brown at No.8.
"I think Ben [McCalman] is a better line-out option, which gives them an extra jumper," said Gold.
"I believe they are also slightly worried about Sharpy [Nathan Sharpe] and that's the reason they have put Chisholm in because they found that there was less cohesion when Sharpy was off the field.
"They also want the experience of Stephen to come back at hooker. Obviously with him playing his 50th test they want to try and match our experience up front and use guys who are tried and tested," Gold added.
"What's important is to build on last weekend's win," said Gold, who added that consistency of performance was important to the Boks.
The Springboks have now conceded four tries in two successive home Tests, and Gold said it was necessary to identify whether the defence system had let them down or whether it had been due to individual error.
Australia, with a better platform by their forwards, could be lethal on attack - and their scrumhalf Will Genia, flyhalf Quade Cooper and centre Matt Giteau needed careful watching.
To this end, Gold said relaxing the vigil on any one of the three could be fatal.
The Springboks played a rather expansive game last Saturday and it's expected they will play tighter this weekend, with a little more structured and be vastly better on defence.
"Performance is what we're working for and our ultimate goal is the World Cup," emphasised Muir.
The scrums and line-outs, with some exceptions, have been solid and should provide the basic platform even against a better, stronger and more experienced Wallaby pack which will face them on Saturday.
The Boks believe in their game plan built on the high ball and a good chase.
They will take it out wide when the occasion arises, but this is a must-win Test (as all Tests should be).
The winner takes the Mandela Challenge Plate, currently held by South Africa and the losers run the risk of being tournament wooden-spoonists.
Victory for the Boks on Saturday will also bring a positive conclusion to a disappointing campaign in 2010.
After suffering four losses in a row, they turned things around with a come-from-behind triumph last week.
Asked what the mood in the Bok camp was in the wake of the win last week, Muir replied: "We want to see steady improvement and certainly from where we started to where we are at now there has been an improvement.
"When you eventually get a result there is a sense of relief but it is about performance and we are all working very hard towards the World Cup and that's the ultimate goal for us."
Gold said it was "very important" for the Boks to get a win at the weekend.
"We felt from a performance point of view we had done enough to win in Johannesburg. We put a lot of focus on the 10 days before our home leg. We wanted to restore pride in many aspects of the game and show that we can compete with the best in the world and hopefully beat them.
"From our point of view we need to put in a couple of good performances. I think we played well for 70 minutes in Pretoria and we need to repeat that this weekend whilst also eliminating the errors we made last week," Gold said.