Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer doesn’t care what a case of beer will cost him at the current rand-pound exchange rate and will be happy to pay, if it means beating the All Blacks.
Meyer and New Zealand counterpart Steve Hansen have a tradition that the winner buys the loser a beer, and in nearly four years at the Boks’ helm, Meyer has only had the privilege of buying beers once in seven meetings.
So he’s saved up enough to afford a case, as long as the Boks pull off an unlikely win against the old foes in Saturday’s World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.
Meyer, usually a nervous, fidgety person, cut a relaxed figure as he named his team to take on the reigning world champions. His relaxed demeanour possibly stemmed from the fact that he had a rare opportunity to name an unchanged starting XV for the first time since November 2012.
Or perhaps it comes from the feeling that after being under severe pressure every game since losing to Japan in week one of the tournament, the Boks are complete underdogs in the last four and defeat to the greatest team in the history of the game, won’t be a disgrace.
The only change to the 23 from the squad that beat Wales 23-19 in the quarterfinal, sees veteran lock Victor Matfield replace greenhorn Pieter-Steph du Toit on the bench. Matfield brings 125 caps worth of experience to a bench that includes other veterans such as tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis and scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar.
“Steve and I started a tradition after the first time our teams played against each other ,” Meyer said. “I was very down after we lost to the All Blacks and Steve came over with a beer, and commiserated.
“The next time we played, we lost as well and I didn’t even want to go into the post-match function. But again, he came looking for me, holding another beer. We started talking about family and the pressure of coaching proud rugby countries, and we’ve had so much mutual respect since then.
“I told him then, ‘Steve I can’t wait to bring you a beer.’ It’s only happened once, at Ellis Park and I brought him a case. He was great and said to me, ‘I’ve been waiting for my beer.’
“So Steve, hopefully on Saturday I can bring you another case of beer….
“We are fierce rivals, but you won’t see me or my team disrespecting the All Blacks or trying to play mind games. But we want to beat them.”
Meyer admitted that the seemingly impossible task would require the Springboks to be at their absolute best to have any chance.
The All Blacks have been superb for six years, since undergoing a minor overhaul in 2009 when they lost three consecutive Tests to the Springboks.
Since 2010 the All Blacks have played 78 Tests and won 70 with only six defeats and two draws. That’s an 89.7% winning ratio. Since winning the 2011 World Cup that record reads: played 57, won 52, lost 3, drawn 2 for a 90.4% winning ratio. Simply put, they are the greatest rugby team in history.
“If you look at the All Blacks’ record over the past four years, it is the best team that has ever played the game,” Meyer said without hyperbole.
“Usually after a World Cup there is a decline in performance, but they just improved after 2011. We know that to beat them, we have to give our best performance ever. But that doesn’t mean we don’t believe we can beat them.
“Once we get going, we really want to go at each other for 80-90 minutes. Where they have improved is that they know how to handle pressure; they don’t buckle anymore. They tend to come through in the last five minutes.
“That’s why I’m really happy with our bench because in the last 15 minutes they are going to play a huge role.”
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 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Meyer aims to buy the victory beer
Meyer and New Zealand counterpart Steve Hansen have a tradition that the winner buys the loser a beer, and in nearly four years at the Boks’ helm, Meyer has only had the privilege of buying beers once in seven meetings.
So he’s saved up enough to afford a case, as long as the Boks pull off an unlikely win against the old foes in Saturday’s World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.
Meyer, usually a nervous, fidgety person, cut a relaxed figure as he named his team to take on the reigning world champions. His relaxed demeanour possibly stemmed from the fact that he had a rare opportunity to name an unchanged starting XV for the first time since November 2012.
Or perhaps it comes from the feeling that after being under severe pressure every game since losing to Japan in week one of the tournament, the Boks are complete underdogs in the last four and defeat to the greatest team in the history of the game, won’t be a disgrace.
The only change to the 23 from the squad that beat Wales 23-19 in the quarterfinal, sees veteran lock Victor Matfield replace greenhorn Pieter-Steph du Toit on the bench. Matfield brings 125 caps worth of experience to a bench that includes other veterans such as tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis and scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar.
“Steve and I started a tradition after the first time our teams played against each other ,” Meyer said. “I was very down after we lost to the All Blacks and Steve came over with a beer, and commiserated.
“The next time we played, we lost as well and I didn’t even want to go into the post-match function. But again, he came looking for me, holding another beer. We started talking about family and the pressure of coaching proud rugby countries, and we’ve had so much mutual respect since then.
“I told him then, ‘Steve I can’t wait to bring you a beer.’ It’s only happened once, at Ellis Park and I brought him a case. He was great and said to me, ‘I’ve been waiting for my beer.’
“So Steve, hopefully on Saturday I can bring you another case of beer….
“We are fierce rivals, but you won’t see me or my team disrespecting the All Blacks or trying to play mind games. But we want to beat them.”
Meyer admitted that the seemingly impossible task would require the Springboks to be at their absolute best to have any chance.
The All Blacks have been superb for six years, since undergoing a minor overhaul in 2009 when they lost three consecutive Tests to the Springboks.
Since 2010 the All Blacks have played 78 Tests and won 70 with only six defeats and two draws. That’s an 89.7% winning ratio. Since winning the 2011 World Cup that record reads: played 57, won 52, lost 3, drawn 2 for a 90.4% winning ratio. Simply put, they are the greatest rugby team in history.
“If you look at the All Blacks’ record over the past four years, it is the best team that has ever played the game,” Meyer said without hyperbole.
“Usually after a World Cup there is a decline in performance, but they just improved after 2011. We know that to beat them, we have to give our best performance ever. But that doesn’t mean we don’t believe we can beat them.
“Once we get going, we really want to go at each other for 80-90 minutes. Where they have improved is that they know how to handle pressure; they don’t buckle anymore. They tend to come through in the last five minutes.
“That’s why I’m really happy with our bench because in the last 15 minutes they are going to play a huge role.”
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 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
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