England in SA
Habana: No excuses for Boks
2012-06-05 15:42
Durban - South Africa will not use their lack of preparation time as an excuse
before their three-Test home series against England, wing Bryan Habana
said on Tuesday.
GALLERY: Springbok training session
Habana, with 74 Test caps to his name, is the
most experienced player in the 32-man Springbok squad. His knowledge
will be vital for a South Africa team who have had only five days to
prepare for the first Test against England in Durban on Saturday.
"The one thing we have decided as a group is that there are going to be
no excuses whether we have enough time or not," Habana told reporters.
"(Coach) Heyneke Meyer's main message to us for the next four years is
that we want to become the best team in the world and we can't afford to
see anything as an excuse."
Meyer has named nine uncapped
players in his first South Africa squad which will be missing the
retired John Smit and Victor Matfield and the injured Schalk Burger and
Juan Smith.
"We are all professional enough to understand our
roles and responsibilities and we need to make sure that we start this
new era with a win," Habana said.
South Africa have an admirable
recent record against England, having won the last seven Tests between
the two countries while England have not beaten the Springboks in South
Africa since 2000.
But Habana said that history would play no
part in the first Test against a revitalised England team who finished
second in this year's Six Nations under new coach Stuart Lancaster.
"It's a fantastic record for us to have but we are not going to worry
about what has happened in the past. We need to set new goals and new
standards," he said.
"This England team under Stuart Lancaster
has improved over the last 12 months and they have been good for
northern hemisphere rugby. Lancaster has done unbelievably well with a
talented group of youngsters and one or two old heads in the team.
"It is probably one of the strongest English sides that has come to
South Africa over the last 12 years. This English team is not going to
go out there and hand us a win on Saturday. We know it's going to be
tough and we are up for that challenge."