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Powell joins Bok-bash choir

RWC Mediawatch with Rob Houwing

Cape Town – Hefty loose forward substitute Andy Powell has joined the increasingly vocal Welsh school of thought that the Springboks are ripe for the plucking in the World Cup Pool D encounter in Wellington on Sunday.

First coach Warren Gatland riled the defending champions with his “Boks don’t play rugby” charge, then the now-Cape Town resident former Wales midfield great Scott Gibbs suggested South Africa were “vulnerable”.

Now the 116kg Powell -- who starts the fixture off the bench and may well be viewed by Wales as their own counter to the second-half impact role anticipated from the Boks’ Willem Alberts – has talked up Welsh chances as well.

Writing on The Daily Telegraph website, Powell said: “It is vital that we smash South Africa in the opening minutes, particularly in the battle of the breakdown. That is when we have to set the tone.

“I saw at first hand during the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009 just how much their success is driven by their ability to dominate the big collisions. No doubt they will try to bully us again.

“But we have been building up this squad for three years and have drawn a lot of confidence from our warm-up matches.

“The cryotherapy (cold cure) sessions in Poland have also ensured we have arrived in New Zealand in great shape physically – I honestly think we have a slight edge on them at the moment.”

For a side boasting a miserly one victory over the Boks in the history of the rivalry, then, Wales seem surprisingly gung-ho. At least the fuse could be said to have been indisputably lit for Sunday.

*Meanwhile the supposed minnows of the same pool, Namibia, have earned some media laurels in host nation New Zealand despite the 49-25 defeat to Fiji on Saturday.

Writing on www.Press.co.nz, David Long said: “Fiji and Namibia produced everything you would want from a Rugby World Cup game as they ran up 74 points at Rotorua International Stadium … rugby was a clear winner.

“In a thoroughly entertaining game played in front of 10 000 sun-drenched spectators, Fiji were able to produce that scintillating brand of rugby they’re so famous for.

“Namibia responded with a gutsy but ultimately fruitless effort. They earned plenty of respect for the way they took the game to Fiji and were often the dominant side at the breakdown.”

Older rugby fans in southern African may well rue the Namibians’ non-involvement in South Africa’s domestic set-up, which would probably do wonders for the IRB 20th-ranked nation’s cause.

They would remember with some affection, after all, the “Biltongboere” playing a full-blooded part for some years in the Currie Cup as South West Africa, prior to independence, when they had a hard-as-nails pack in the 1980s and a points-machine flyhalf in Shaun McCulley.

The 49-year-old would doubtless have enjoyed the remarkable, four-minute trio of dropped goals from Namibia’s current No 10 Theuns Kotze at Rotorua …

* Can the Springboks beat Wales in their RWC opener? Click HERE for the latest odds on BET.CO.ZA

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