Can Burger and the brutal Boks turn this World Cup on its head?
THE SIGHT of a relaxed Schalk Burger j oki ng around at Twickenham yesterday will have done nothing to reassure any nervous New Zealanders, 20 years on from a momentous World Cup shock against the Boks.
This morning, South Africa’s champions of 1995 who united a nation by stunning the All Blacks in Johannesburg were due to come together for a run through central London as part of their reunion.
Meanwhile, their modern-day successors are preparing to face the same familiar foes against a similar backdrop of being written off as cannon fodder for the Kiwi kingpins.
Heyneke Meyer’s side are clear outsiders for this afternoon’s semi-final but if they are standing by the precipice, Burger does not have the look of a man ready for a fall. The veteran flanker is on a roll in this tournament: top of the charts as the No 1 ball-carrier, the No 2 off-loader and the No 3 tackler. When Wales were eventually battered into submission by the Boks last weekend, Burger led the charge and was named man of the match.
The 32-year-old was in high spirits on the eve of this monumental collision. Asked to respond to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s assertion that South Africa are ‘ready to rip our heads off ’, he quipped: ‘We’re not at the moment, but maybe tomorrow!’
There was no removing the grin from his face. Burger was happy to mix self- deprecation with bullish statements of intent. Meyer had claimed that these All Blacks are the best team of all time and his openside concurred, saying: ‘Statistics prove that. I think Richie McCaw has won more Test matches than I’ve played. It’s pretty hard to compete against guys who never seem to lose. I think they’re a great side, but within our team there’s quite a lot of belief.
‘We’ve put them under pressure in the past. It’s up to us as players. We’ve got to go out and embrace it. Twickenham is a phenomenal venue and there will be a lot of South African support so we’ve got to draw energy from that.
‘The big thing about them is their attack is phenomenal. They back their execution and skills- set so they put you under more pressure than any other team. When we’ve beaten them it starts with defence — not letting them have any tempo on the ball, trying to slow them down. But if we do get opportunities we have to use all of them. Hopefully we can do something special tomorrow.’
Last year, Burger was playing f or Suntory Sungoliath in Japan alongside Bok captain Fourie du Preez and wondering if he would play for his country again. In fact, he has been a major force at this tournament but there was a concerted attempt yesterday to put McCaw, his opposite number at openside, on a pedestal. ‘We have become good mates, played against each other since 2003 and there have been a fair few contests,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately I have been on the losing side of most of them. Let’s hope I get some bragging rights tomorrow as it will be the last time we play against each other. We can’t really compare. It’s like golfers comparing to Tiger Woods. It’s pretty tough.’ As he prepared for his final clash with the Springboks, McCaw s ummed up t he intensity of a physical rivalry, saying: ‘They are the games I love, and if you get the odd scar from it, that’s just part and parcel. Playing that opposition with that sort of intensity is why you play the game. If we get the job done, I will take any scar that comes along with it. We realise the challenge the Springboks are going to pose.
‘They are going to be desperate, and we’ve got to match that. It will be brutal because of that. The match-ups with the Springboks are some of the toughest rugby you ever play.’
South Africa have reverted to their traditional power game in recent weeks after the shock of losing their opener against Japan. But they retain a potent threat out wide, with wing Bryan Habana poised to set a record for tournament tries. ‘Hopefully, if we do our job we can get Bryan some space and he gets the record,’ said Burger. ‘He had a chance against America and fluffed that one, so hopefully he doesn’t fluff the one on the weekend!’
Du Preez scored the decisive late try last week as South Africa snatched quarter-final victory over Wales and he has a superb personal record of seven wins in 12 encounters with New Zealand.
Assistant coach Johann van Graan tipped the captain to provide further inspiration, saying: ‘A talent can hit a target nobody else can hit, but a genius can hit a target no one else can see — and that is Fourie du Preez.’