Flank Schalk Burger will become South Africa’s most capped World Cup player when he runs out for an 18th time at the tournament in today’s quarterfinal against Wales at Twickenham.But Burger, along with millions of South Africans, will be hoping to extend that run to 20 games if the Boks go all the way to the final.
First things first. The Welsh stand in the Boks’ way of a fourth semi-final appearance and if thoughts stray to matches further along, there might not be a next week.
The Springboks have been in battle mode since game one when they surprisingly lost to Japan and although they eventually topped Pool B with three resounding wins over Samoa, Scotland and the USA, there is no escaping that this will be their biggest test yet.
“We never focused on their pool,” Bok No 8 Duane Vermeulen said. “We focused on the type of game we needed to play and after losing to Japan. We needed to focus a bit more. Wales is the next game on our journey and our pinnacle is to be in the Rugby World Cup final.
“There is a lot of energy in the squad. If it is nervous energy, it’s still good. We need to channel it positively and if all 23 of us move in the same direction we’ll be happy with that. We had a good off day and training went well and so it’s just about going to play our game and execute.”
This will be the second meeting between the teams at a World Cup, with the Boks winning the other 17-16 in Wellington four years ago.
Overall the Boks hold a massive advantage in head to head battles, winning 27 of 30 encounters going back to 1906, but none of that will have a bearing on matters today.
Wales will ask more searching questions of the Boks than they have encountered at this World Cup so far – a fact captain Fourie du Preez acknowledged.
“They are a gainline team, they rush you on defence with big backs and they enjoy playing an aerial battle,” Du Preez said.
“It will be a challenge to face those threats but we have prepared well for them.”
Wales have serious injury problems and go into the match without players such as British & Irish Lions stars Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies and centre Scott Williams.
South Africa have had their own problems during the course of the campaign, losing captain Jean de Villiers to injury and now also Victor Matfield for this clash.
But the squad has rallied and forwards’ and attack coach Johann van Graan praised the players for their efforts in turning their fortunes around after the problems they have endured.
TEAMS:
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Reserves: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Wales: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Reserves: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. James Hook.
Boks sharpen focus
But Burger, along with millions of South Africans, will be hoping to extend that run to 20 games if the Boks go all the way to the final.
First things first. The Welsh stand in the Boks’ way of a fourth semi-final appearance and if thoughts stray to matches further along, there might not be a next week.
The Springboks have been in battle mode since game one when they surprisingly lost to Japan and although they eventually topped Pool B with three resounding wins over Samoa, Scotland and the USA, there is no escaping that this will be their biggest test yet.
“We never focused on their pool,” Bok No 8 Duane Vermeulen said. “We focused on the type of game we needed to play and after losing to Japan. We needed to focus a bit more. Wales is the next game on our journey and our pinnacle is to be in the Rugby World Cup final.
“There is a lot of energy in the squad. If it is nervous energy, it’s still good. We need to channel it positively and if all 23 of us move in the same direction we’ll be happy with that. We had a good off day and training went well and so it’s just about going to play our game and execute.”
This will be the second meeting between the teams at a World Cup, with the Boks winning the other 17-16 in Wellington four years ago.
Overall the Boks hold a massive advantage in head to head battles, winning 27 of 30 encounters going back to 1906, but none of that will have a bearing on matters today.
Wales will ask more searching questions of the Boks than they have encountered at this World Cup so far – a fact captain Fourie du Preez acknowledged.
“They are a gainline team, they rush you on defence with big backs and they enjoy playing an aerial battle,” Du Preez said.
“It will be a challenge to face those threats but we have prepared well for them.”
Wales have serious injury problems and go into the match without players such as British & Irish Lions stars Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies and centre Scott Williams.
South Africa have had their own problems during the course of the campaign, losing captain Jean de Villiers to injury and now also Victor Matfield for this clash.
But the squad has rallied and forwards’ and attack coach Johann van Graan praised the players for their efforts in turning their fortunes around after the problems they have endured.
TEAMS:
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Reserves: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Wales: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Reserves: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. James Hook.
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