Lack of game time a Bok worry

Durban - Lack of game time for his senior players could adversely affect the world champion Springboks in their Tri-Nations match against Australia on Saturday, South Africa coach Peter de Villiers said on Monday.

South Africa recalled 15 players to their squad to contest the home leg of their Tri-Nations' campaign after fielding an inexperienced team in their opening two matches because more than 20 injured players were unavailable.

South Africa lost 39-20 to Australia in Sydney and 40-7 to World Cup hosts New Zealand in Wellington.

"It is about game time more than anything else, most of the guys haven't played in six to seven weeks," De Villiers told a news conference.

"It won't be easy. We have taken everything into consideration but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. The first 20 minutes (against Australia) will be tough. I am confident we will come through but we will need a good start."

The Tests against Australia and the All Blacks a week later in Port Elizabeth will be De Villiers' last chance to fine-tune his team ahead of the World Cup opening on Sept. 9.

De Villiers said that while Australia and New Zealand would provide a stiff challenge he was focusing on his own team's deficiencies.

"We have the two best teams in the world to prepare against and we want to focus on getting our systems going and improving the players' understanding with one another," he said.

"We also need to work on our defence, which is an area we came up short in when we were overseas. If we can establish a good defensive system now it will stand us in good stead."