HERE’S HOW TO BEAT THE BOKS
By Japan head coach EDDIE JONES, the man who has already done it
KEEP THE BALL IN PLAY
DESPITE their terrible luck with injuries, Wales pride themselves on their fitness. South Africa are a big, physical side with some old heads so Wales have to try and keep the ball in play for more than 40 minutes of the game. With Japan we tried to move the ball around to make South Africa play as much as possible and stretch them. Wales should do the same. They should not kick for touch but kick infield whenever possible and lessen the break between set pieces. Increasing the tempo is a key strategy. If Warren Gatland’s side are within one score of them at 70 minutes then South Africa will get anxious and Wales know they can finish strongly. Just ask England.
MIND GAMES
WARREN GATLAND’S psychological nous is excellent, probably the best of all the coaches at the World Cup. He has this ability to bring players into the team who haven’t been playing and yet they play above themselves.
Wales’ record against South Africa is poor but I’m sure he’ll be telling his boys this has nothing to do with history. This is a one-off game and Wales have got absolutely nothing to lose.
NEED FOR SPEED
WHOEVER can get an edge at the scrum or the lineout and then transform that into momentum will have a huge advantage. Wales have to get quick and clean set-piece ball and then focus on getting over the gainline as quickly as possible.
That’s exactly what we did with Japan to keep the Springboks on the back foot. We tried to play with real speed because then you can take away their rush defence, their big hits and put them under pressure.
Rather than them using their physical prowess to intimidate us we were able to use the speed of the ball and keep them under pressure for most of the game.
World Cup referees have also been consistent at the breakdown — if you have the momentum then it’s the attacking teams who are getting the advantage, so Wales must keep that momentum going forwards.
GREAT EIGHTS
TOBY FALETAU has been the best No 8 in the competiton so far. He is such a big ball carrier for Wales and they have to get him in the game. Duane Vermeulen has been a bit quiet at the World Cup but at the end of the last game against the USA he was starting to find a bit of form. He’s a crucial runner for South Africa and is a real threat over the ball at the breakdown as well. That is going to be one of the key head-to-heads in the game.
CRANK IT UP
THE recent defeats to Japan and Argentina will be at the back of South African minds. There will be doubt there because they know they have lost games they shouldn’t have. If you can stick with them for 60 or 70 minutes and still be close then they get rattled. That’s when they start to feel the pressure of the scoreboard and the pressure of the clock and they do not play as they’d like. That’s what we played on.