JJ Harmse

Auckland – The Springbok loose-trio has yet to reach its potential in spite of a few impressive performances to date and should take a further step towards perfection against the All Blacks on Saturday.

That is the view of the youngster in the trio, Francois Louw, ahead of his first match against the All Blacks at Eden Park.

He will also be up against Richie McCaw, but is not overwhelmed by the prospect.

“I played against McCaw the first time in 2008 when we played the Crusaders at Newlands,” said the Stormers flank.

“Back then I was wide-eyed about the prospect, but it certainly won’t be the case on Saturday.”

He said that he was gelling increasingly well with Schalk Burger and Pierre Spies.

“Schalk and I have played together a lot, but it’s nice to have Pierre in the mix. He’s an excellent player and gives us a lot of options,” said Louw.

Louw trained without problems on Tuesday as the Springboks went through their paces.

Danie Rossouw and Bakkies Botha did not attend the general training session, but Rossouw came through a tough fitness test on his injured hip.

Botha is struggling with a hamstring injury and did not train at all.

Even so, Springbok captain John Smit believes that an injury to either of the two won’t be the end of the world.

“We’ve managed without them at stages this year and it did not go too badly, but they are both world class and I would prefer for them to both be able to play,” said Smit.

“Fortunately we still have two very good players there, but it will of course be ideal if we have all the locks available.”

Smit will be supported by Jannie du Plessis and Gurthrö Steenkamp in the front row. He indicated that they are reasonably satisfied with the scrums at this stage.

“It’s still an area that requires work because you can never rest on your laurels. We scrummed well the last few weeks. We are therefore approaching the competition with a lot of confidence,” said Smit.

It appears as if Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will pick Jean de Villiers on the right wing with Wynand Olivier is set to join Jaque Fourie in the midfield.

Olivier’s good performances in the Super 14 clearly gave the Bok coach the idea that the blond centre has the ability to be a thorn in the Kiwis’ flesh.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of experienced depth,” said Smit.

Possible Springbok team:

Zane Kirchner, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Bryan Habana, Morné Steyn, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield, Andries Bekker, Jannie du Plessis, John Smit, Gurthrö Steenkamp.