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Stephen Nell
East London – John Smit and Schalk Burger both had a limited part in Monday morning’s Springbok training session, but coach Peter de Villiers appeared far more concerned about the effects of football fever than injuries.
De Villiers on Monday declined a request by a local journalist to wish Bafana Bafana good luck for Tuesday’s World Cup match against France.
The Bok coach feels the sideshows involving the World Cup divided his team’s attention between rugby and football.
While South Africa beat Italy in Witbank quite comfortably, the performance in the 29-13 win did not meet the Boks’ expectations.
“We drove over 100km last week to support Bafana and it meant that we were still on the road at 1am the next morning,” said De Villiers.
“We don’t normally do that in a Test week. There were a lot of team commitments and maybe I made the mistake not to place enough emphasis on motivation.
“I’ve done some soul-searching and definitely made a few mistakes before the game. I’ve shared it with the team and want to limit outside influences to a minimum this week.
“There are six new guys in the squad and I don’t want them to get the wrong impression of what Springbok rugby is all about.
“Thing were a little loose, but I am 50% to blame and it’s important that I now create an environment in which we can all be comfortable.”
Harsh words were spoken on Monday morning when the Boks analysed their performance in Witbank.
“We were quite harsh on one another, but the players now understand how we feel. We also refreshed their memories about the energy the South African public draws from good rugby and a good team,” said De Villiers.
“My biggest concern is the silly little errors the players made. It may have been due to a lack of concentration.
“Maybe we should have done things differently (with regards to the Soccer World Cup), but it was our contribution to show that different sports codes should support one another.”
Apart from the football fever there weren’t injuries in the team.
Smit and Burger will be fit to play, though team doctor Craig Roberts said that they would monitor how both reacted to training after they missed the first Test against Italy with respective hamstring and ankle injuries.
East London – John Smit and Schalk Burger both had a limited part in Monday morning’s Springbok training session, but coach Peter de Villiers appeared far more concerned about the effects of football fever than injuries.
De Villiers on Monday declined a request by a local journalist to wish Bafana Bafana good luck for Tuesday’s World Cup match against France.
The Bok coach feels the sideshows involving the World Cup divided his team’s attention between rugby and football.
While South Africa beat Italy in Witbank quite comfortably, the performance in the 29-13 win did not meet the Boks’ expectations.
“We drove over 100km last week to support Bafana and it meant that we were still on the road at 1am the next morning,” said De Villiers.
“We don’t normally do that in a Test week. There were a lot of team commitments and maybe I made the mistake not to place enough emphasis on motivation.
“I’ve done some soul-searching and definitely made a few mistakes before the game. I’ve shared it with the team and want to limit outside influences to a minimum this week.
“There are six new guys in the squad and I don’t want them to get the wrong impression of what Springbok rugby is all about.
“Thing were a little loose, but I am 50% to blame and it’s important that I now create an environment in which we can all be comfortable.”
Harsh words were spoken on Monday morning when the Boks analysed their performance in Witbank.
“We were quite harsh on one another, but the players now understand how we feel. We also refreshed their memories about the energy the South African public draws from good rugby and a good team,” said De Villiers.
“My biggest concern is the silly little errors the players made. It may have been due to a lack of concentration.
“Maybe we should have done things differently (with regards to the Soccer World Cup), but it was our contribution to show that different sports codes should support one another.”
Apart from the football fever there weren’t injuries in the team.
Smit and Burger will be fit to play, though team doctor Craig Roberts said that they would monitor how both reacted to training after they missed the first Test against Italy with respective hamstring and ankle injuries.
