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Cape Town - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer believes that there is not too much difference in playing style between his side and the All Blacks ahead of Saturday's Rugby World Cup semi-final.
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The Boks have long been associated with a forwards-dominated game that thrives on tight phases and accurate tactical kicking, but Meyer believes that they have moved away from that stereotype.
"In a sense we play more or less the same," Meyer said.
"Their skill level and the way they play has been unbelievable and every time we’ve played them we’ve also scored a lot of tries. It’s never been a dull affair.
"They look to move the ball around and they want to score tries and if you look at our previous encounters it’s always either been four tries to five, or three to four.
"So we have also moved on from where we came from. We also want to move the ball around and create more tries. But I think knockout games are different. On the day there will always be more pressure. ”
Meyer said that while the top teams all looked to play a similar brand of rugby, it was in execution where the differences lay.
"Where they are very good is with their tactical kicking and when they get the chance they finish it... and that’s something that we need to improve on," he said.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
New Zealand:
TBA
