Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick and captain Siya Kolisi said the Boks are determined to finish their season on a high note when they line up against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, although both stressed that they would not make the mistake of underestimating their hosts.
Should the Boks win the match, it will mark the second season in a row that they complete their year-end Castle Lager Outgoing Tour with a clean sweep of wins, and even though the sentiment in Wales is that the match should be a walk in the park for the Boks against the 11th-ranked hosts, Stick and Kolisi said that was certainly not the feeling within the team.
“We prepare for each game the same, and we treat every opposition team the same, and honestly, we don’t have a good record against Wales in Cardiff as this group,” said Kolisi.
“We know how tough the Welsh team is, and we’ve been in their position before, when in 2015 all the guys retired at the same time, and then we went through the 2016 and 2017 seasons before coach Rassie (Erasmus), coach Stick, and many of the other coaches came into the mix, which is when we started changing things.
“Every team goes through such seasons. What’s been so good with our team is that we’ve been chopping and changing, but while wanting to win. We know the Welsh will come for us this weekend, so we are looking forward to the game, and we’ll give it our all.
“We all saw how well they played last weekend, and I think only later in the game, New Zealand pulled away. So, we’re going to have to start with intensity and play within our standards.”
AIMING TO 'FINISH STRONGLY'
Stick shared Kolisi’s sentiments about Wales and said they are expecting a tough game.
“It’s been a long tour, but the most important thing for us is to make sure that we finish strongly,” said Stick.
“We probably won’t be together for the next six to seven months, so we want to make the most of this opportunity.
“A lot of their younger players are getting opportunities, and they’ll also want to impress their coaches, so they’ll give everything they’ve got. Siya touched on it also earlier on that in their game against the All Blacks, at around 50 minutes, Wales were still in the game.
“So, we can’t take things for granted and underestimate them. They are a proud nation when it comes to how they play the game, and they are very physical, so it’s going to be tough.”
Commenting on Duane Vermeulen – who has been involved in the Springbok coaching set-up as one of SA Rugby’s Mobi-unit coaches – and who is officially on standby should any player suffer an injury before the match, Kolisi said: “It’s good to have him as a coach, and even at 39 years old, it’s nice to train against him, because he can still set a maul, he hits the rucks hard, and he challenges us at the breakdowns.
“And now he has an opportunity to play this weekend if something were to happen to someone. So, it’s a reminder that he can still do it. He’s played for us, and done it all, and it’s great to learn from him.”
When quizzed about the seven-one split of forwards on the replacements bench, Stick said: “If you look at the past couple of years, whenever we opted for a 7-1 split, it was always probably Grant (Williams) or Cobus (Reinach) providing cover in a few positions, especially with their pace.
“In this case, we have Cobus on the bench, who can cover wing for us as well, and we’ve always been vocal about Kwagga (Smith) as backup for us, especially with his skillset coming from a Sevens background. So, I don’t think we’ll have challenges there.
“Canan Moodie is at wing and can also play fullback for us, so we went through all those scenarios this week.”
GRATITUDE
With Friday’s press gathering in Cardiff marking the last captains’ media conference for the year, Stick took the opportunity to thank South Africa’s rugby faithful for their support,
“I’d like to thank everyone back home for all the support throughout the season, and those who travelled on tour because we always felt their presence,” he said.
“The players will probably go back to their teams and play for their franchises, and for the coaches, we’ll be giving back to other teams.”
Stick added: “The Blitzboks are playing in Dubai this weekend, so we’ll also be supporting them, and hopefully I can go support them in Cape Town, so thanks to everyone for their support, and we hope they enjoy the festive season and the family time.”
The match kicks off at 17h10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport’s Grandstand and Rugby channels.