Bok coach is counting on home field advantage for an edge
SPRINGBOKcoach Heyneke Meyer has every intention of making home ground advantage count against the all-conquering All Blacks in Soweto on Saturday.
The Boks delivered a fine performance in beating Australia 31-8 at Loftus, and while the All Blacks rather enjoy playing on the highveld and are successful at it, more so than the Australians, Meyer feels that this time around at Soccer City on Saturday, the altitude and travelling from South America could help give his side a critical edge against the world champions.
Even though the Springboks are suffering their fair share of bumps and bruises after their romping win over the Wallabies, including the season-ending injury to centre Frans Steyn, there was more than enough signs of a team on the upward curve for Meyer to dare to believe that the All Blacks are beatable.
While Steyn is ruled out and due to undergo an operation tomorrow to remove bone fragments from his ankle, and there are lingering doubts over prop Coenie Oosthuizen and fullback Zane Kirchner, Meyer is quietly confident his team has what it takes to down New Zealand.
“It is tough, they will see that coming back, especially coming to the highveld,” Meyer said. “And it is great for us that we are waiting here for them. If it is a 50/50 game then the team that is not travelling will always win.
“This is a special group of players who train very hard. This team will only get better, there is a lot of youngsters coming through, there is a lot of youth in this team,” he enthused.
“If we win on Saturday then we would have won all of our home Tests which was one of our goals. But we will need to convert pressure into points and be more clinical on Saturday.
“We obviously want to play great rugby and score tries but we must find the balance of when to attack and what to attack, and when to play tactical,” the Bok coach cautioned.