Boks’ power and pace send a warning shot to NZ

If South African coach Dawie Theron was feeling stressed during his side’s 61-5 win over Scotland, how is he going to fare this Friday in the JWC match-up with New Zealand?

The former Springbok prop rattled the coaches’ box with his exasperation after a trying opening quarter by his charges on Monday night’s opener in Albany. The rulings of referee Joaquin Montes of Uruguay had Theron shaking his head at times.

“There were a lot of things that were mind-boggling in that first half, but we didn’t play well and struggled to find our rhythm. It is our seventh day here and usually on the sixth or seventh day you are just finding your feet. I thought they played pretty well in that second half and took control of the game,” said Theron, after South Africa led just 14-5 at halftime. He knew there was much to tidy up ahead of the biggest match in Pool C, not the least of which was accuracy and keeping shape.

“We need to look at our lineout throws. We lost two, no excuses. You can’t get on attack and then just lose it by throwing it askew. We’ve got to be precise and get that correct.”

South Africa did, however, manage to disrupt Scotland’s lineout and then the sheer size of the pack told in the second half. “The whole idea in putting this team together was to get the physicality in place and also to not lose our pace and skill. I was very happy with the back three,” said Theron.

New Zealand have been warned. This Junior Boks side can hurt you from any area. Second-five Andre Esterhuizen took a head knock and left the field, but passed a concussion test and looks likely to face New Zealand.