Tri-Nations
Deans wary of experienced SA
2011-08-11 20:22
Email | Print
Durban - Australia's coach Robbie Deans is well aware of the danger that an experienced Springbok outfit, whose starting team possess an impressive 810 Test caps between them, will pose.
Click to BUY John Smit’s Captain in the Cauldron book
"The Springbok side is one that has a lot of history, they understand the meaning of it, they understand the importance of it and this is their first outing with a very short stretch before the World Cup," Deans said.
"They'll want to start well, they'll want to make a statement, they've got a lot of experience, so they know what's required and they know how to go about that, so if we're in any way underdone in terms of expectation, we'll get spanked, it's that simple."
Australia made a strong start to their Tri-Nations campaign with a comprehensive win over South Africa in Sydney but they lost a lot of momentum when they went down 30-14 to the All Blacks in Auckland last Saturday.
Deans said that it was vital that his players worked as a team against the Springboks to eradicate the individual errors which plagued their performance against New Zealand.
"The key for us is the team game as it always is. Rugby union is the ultimate team game and that's what makes it so rewarding when you do put it together off a back of a lot of work. It doesn't just happen. It takes a lot of time and effort from a lot of people. That's the piece of growth we are looking for this week.
"The industriousness and enthusiasm last week was good but it wasn't always well directed and that's what we have got to get better at."
Australia are in second position on the Tri-Nations points table with five points, four points behind the All Blacks, and a bonus-point win would propel them to the top of the table.
Bok coach, Peter De Villiers, feels that the professionalism of his group of players could be the deciding factor.
"I have never seen such professional people. They understand what it is all about and they understand the difference they can make to this country.
"If you look at the experience and ability of the players and where their heads are at the moment we can use that to help us on our next journey," he said.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Gio Aplon
Australia:
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 James Horwill, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Substitutes: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Salesi Maafu, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Radike Samo, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Anthony Faingaa