‘Boks used to the pressure’

The Springboks have been in a play-off situation since losing to the All Blacks in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup in Japan, according to ace flyhalf Handre Pollard.

The Boks are preparing for a must-win pool clash against Italy this week, but Pollard (below) said they had become accustomed to pressure situations.

“We knew after the All Blacks game that it was six more games and six wins... so it’s the kind of scenario you would normally get in a play-off,” Pollard said.

“We have geared for that, even from the Rugby Championship.”

While the defeat to New Zealand had been a setback, Pollard said the Boks had put that behind them and confronted the cards they had been dealt.

“Preferably we would have loved to have won the first one,” he said.

“But it wasn’t meant to be so, we just had to move on and take it from there.”

Though they would use the opportunity to take the ball wide, the Bok flyhalf admitted the conditions were more favourable to a kicking game, and they had carefully addressed their tactics for tomorrow’s fixture against Italy.

“Most of the tries have originated from kicks,” said Pollard, who needs just four points to reach the career milestone of 400 in Tests, and only 11 points to surpass Percy Montgomery’s record of 111 at World Cup tournaments.

“We don’t want to look at too many scenarios. It’s pretty much clear.”

Most of the play-off contenders were more settled playing without the ball, which had set the tone in the early stages of the tournament.

“We are not trying to keep the ball for long periods,” Pollard said.

“I think it’s only basically Japan and Australia who have been keeping the ball for about 16 phases.”