It’s make or break for Boks
Wily Samoa lie in wait for nervous SA
THERE has seldom been a more important game in Springbok rugby history than tomorrow’s World Cup clash against Samoa at Villa Park in Birmingham. The two nations have met in meaningful encounters before, none more so than the 1995 World Cup quarterfinal at Ellis Park. But back then there was always going to be one winner. The lines are not so clear anymore.
Japan, by beating the Springboks 34-32 in Brighton last week, turned the rugby world on its head. Samoa now believe they can beat the Boks. And why shouldn’t they?
South Africa have lost four out of five tests this year and along the way have lost their identity.
They have tried to morph into a freewheeling side that runs from everywhere, rather than sticking to the stoic smash and subdue formula that has served the little antelope so well for over a century.
Samoa are so buoyed by what they have witnessed that they have loaded their bench with players who would normally start. They believe the Boks are a side that wilts in the final quarter and are ready to unleash their tactical weapons when South Africa are at their most vulnerable.
Flyhalf Tusi Pisi was expected to start, but he is lurking on the bench. So is behemoth prop Census Johnson. It is a clever piece of coaching by Stephen Betham. It will have created confusion in the Boks’ planning. And heaven knows there has been enough of that already in this short campaign.
Assistant coach Johann van Graan talked Tusi Pisi up this week. So did fullback Willie le Roux and flyhalf Handre Pollard. But suddenly they are facing Mike Stanley and not Pisi.
Samoa want to be in the game and target the last quarter because they know the Boks are vulnerable in that period. South Africa has “lost” the second half in four of their five tests this year, including last week when they were outscored 24-20 by Japan.
More alarmingly, the Boks have failed to score any points in the final quarter of matches against Australia in Brisbane, New Zealand at Ellis Park and Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Betham’s tactics, while calculated, will only be successful if his side can match the Boks in the early part of the match – a fact he acknowledged.
“They are going to attack us right from the start,” Betham said. “The first 15 minutes will be crucial. We have got to man up in that first 15 minutes because if we shy out in any way then it is going to be a long day at the office.
“We are expecting a fired up South African side: a side that is out to prove a point, a side that is hungry for a win.
“They have got all the players to do that, and it’s just a case of them gelling.”
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer, who has overseen first defeats to Argentina and Japan in recent weeks, knows that a first-ever loss to Samoa would mean the end of the World Cup campaign and also of his tenure.
He has rung the changes from the Japan clash, making eight to the starting XV.
ý New Zealand scored nine tries to defeat Namibia 58-14 yesterday.
The All Blacks duly chalked up their second Pool C win. Namibia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, did their best to disrupt the All Blacks’ flow and the three penalties kicked by their flyhalf Theuns Kotze were cheered just as much as each New Zealand try. – Additional reporting by Reuters