‘It will all come down to last 10 minutes’ for Boks
“TO BE the best, you have to beat the best where they are unbeatable.” Those were the words of Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer when he named an unchanged 23 to take on world champions the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday.
The tourists have been modest all week, but those 14 words revealed a steely determination underneath all the mutual respect displayed this week. These Springboks believe they can win.
New Zealand have not been defeated at their biggest ground since losing 23-20 to France in 1994. They followed that defeat with an 1818 draw against the Boks in the same year and have since won 30 consecutive games at the venue.
Meyer has opted to go with the power of Flip van der Merwe at lock, preserving Juandre Kruger’s natural athleticism for the final 20 minutes of the match, in the only selection that could even remotely be described as difficult.
The Boks have been strong this season because replacements have added value to their effort rather than robbed them of momentum.
“Tests like this are won in the last 20 minutes, actually in the last 10 minutes,” Meyer said.
Outside of the second row it was an easy decision for the coach to stick to the same team that pulverised Australia 38-12 in Brisbane last week, securing their first win in that city in 42 years.
“It’s good to be able to pick an unchanged team, but we have to make a huge step up this weekend because we are facing a great team playing at its best,” Meyer said.
“Flip did well last week and as a collective we scrummed well and although New Zealand will put a lot of pressure on our lineout, I have a lot of confidence in the pack to get the job done. It’s a well-balanced team. We have scored some good tries, but this is a different challenge. The All Blacks do not have weak- nesses and they’ll contest every facet of the game.
“They have a brilliant kicking game and a superb running game. They defend and scrum well and have a strong lineout, which is why they are the world champions and the top-ranked team in the world.
“To beat them you cannot focus on one area of the game. Flip and all the forwards for that matter, have to be brilliant in everything they do.”
The Boks top the Rugby Championship standings with 14 points and New Zealand are second with 13 while SA also lead the try-scoring count with 14 in the competition. The All Blacks have scored 11 tries.
Australia scrumhalf Will Genia freely gave Nic White a couple of pairs of leftover boots to wear but is unlikely to have handed over his No 9 shirt quite so willingly to his understudy ahead of Saturday’s match against Argentina.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie confirmed yesterday that Genia, regarded as one of the game’s best scrumhalves, will cool his heels on the bench for the Perth match against the Pumas as penance for an indifferent start to the Rugby Championship.
McKenzie, himself under pressure after three straight losses to open his tenure, cast the stunning decision as a wakeup call for his most dangerous and creative player.
The demotion has polarised Australia’s rugby community, who have been sorely disappointed by McKenzie’s failure to produce a winning team in the two months since taking over from Robbie Deans.
“When you drop your only world XV quality player to the bench, you would want a long list of very good reasons to justify it,” respected rugby writer Greg Growden fumed.