Kolbe: Be prepared for the kitchen sink

The Springboks must expect anything and everything to be thrown at them, wing Cheslin Kolbe (right) has cautioned ahead of their World Cup opener against the All Blacks in Yokohama today.

Along with leftwing Makazole Mapimpi and fullback Willie le Roux, Kolbe is anticipating a barrage of high-ball attacks in the expected wet weather. “Obviously there are teams who are going to try and kick a lot to try and force some errors, especially on the back three, in order to create opportunities to attack,” Kolbe said.

“But in saying that, it could create opportunities for the defending team to counter from if they can handle that pressure well.”

Kolbe, who scored a sensational try when the Boks beat the All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington last year, said they were ready to face any approach.

“In a competition like a World Cup it’s all going to be around expecting different tactics and teams trying to out-think one another all the time,” he said.

Meanwhile, robust Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen is not allowing a personal milestone to take precedence over the team’s ambitious World Cup objectives.

Vermeulen is set to earn his 50th Bok cap today.

“It’s not a big thing in our team,” he said.

“We actually haven’t even spoken about it, and it might be a special milestone for one as a player, but in the bigger squad environment we’ve tried to focus more on what we need to do this weekend.”

It took Vermeulen all of seven years to reach his international half-century, after making his debut back in 2012 under previous Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.

“It’s pretty special and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“Hopefully things will go our way.”