Stick: Long day for SA ‘A’ if they don’t go the full 80
MZWANDILE Stick has so far only spied the British & Irish Lions from afar, but tonight the Springbok assistant coach and a powerful South Africa ‘A’ side will finally get their first impression of what the tourists are all about.
Naturally, Stick and Co are not completely ignorant to the task they face at Cape Town Stadium (8pm kick-off). After all, the Bok thinktank has had the luxury of watching the tourists decimate the Sigma
Lions and the Sharks, twice, in the last fortnight, and as such, Stick has a pretty good idea of what to expect.
“If you look at their game, they've got a very well balanced team when it comes to the physical side. Their balance now is the fact that they have extra physical players,” the former Blitzboks star said yesterday.
“If you look at a guy like
(Bundee) Aki, they've got (Dan) Biggar at 10, who is also very physical but who can also manage the game very well. With the outside backs, when they get an opportunity, those guys are very dangerous out wide.
“We are talking about competition in every position. They've got the best four selections you can select in every position. It's going to be difficult for us to say these are the weaknesses … If we rock up on the day and we don't pitch from the first whistle to the last, I think we will have a long day. We are going to have to be sure that we are at our best and make sure we play for 80 minutes.”
The expectation is that the match tonight will be characterised by a Test-match intensity, with many pundits decreeing that it has become an unofficial fourth Test match. Such is the selection of both sides that it is an understandable assessment.
Both squads are as close to their most powerful possible, and barring a few injuries, final adjustments and the return of several Boks who have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent weeks, it is more than likely that these will be the players that contest the first Test next week Saturday, also in Cape Town.
Thus far, the B&I Lions have employed an expansive gameplan, attacking at every opportunity, crippling defences with aggressive line-speed and clearing the breakdown with vigour and pace.
It might be a tighter affair tonight, but Stick insisted that the team will be cognisant of the dangerous outside backs in the Lions who have run rampant on tour so far. Equally, Stick believes that they have the arsenal to counter that specific area of play, and that the SA ’A’ side will revel in the challenge.
“If you look at the balance in their side, especially with their outside backs, they are very, very quick," said Stick.
"Their players out there - if you look at a guy like (Louis) ReesZammit - at the moment everyone is talking of him as being one of the quickest rugby players around. They've got Duhan (van der Merwe), who is on form and playing really well, and we know he is a very, very physical guy.
"But that is actually what we stand for as the Springbok team.
"We've got the players who have done the job before for us - we've got guys like Sbu Nkosi, and you look at Cheslin Kolbe, he is a gentleman who at the moment is winning almost everything.”
Nevertheless, Stick also insisted that the match would not be the be-all and end-all of the camp's efforts. And while victory is always preferable, the testing of systems and improvement of play will be of utmost importance as they prepare for the Test series.