Cape Town - Two former Springboks believe the Springboks are on the right track for the World Cup, despite their 9-14 loss to Australia in Durban.
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Corné Krige, the Springbok captain at the Rugby World Cup in 2003 says there are more than enough highlights for Bok coach Peter de Villiers to take out of Saturday's loss with the World Cup in mind.
"The were so many positives, the difference between the teams was very small," Krige told the Rapport newspaper.
Krige says fetcher flank Heinrich Brüssow was "unbelievable".
"To play like that in your first game back, takes a man," said Krige.
He was also impressed with replacement hooker Bismarck du Plessis and believes De Villiers should consider taking Smit off the field after 60 minutes.
Krige believes Victor Matfield is a "good enough" captain to take charge until the end of the game.
Former Springbok wing and 1995 World Cup winner, Chester Williams also feels there's no need to panic ahead of the Word Cup.
"We are definitely on the right track. You could see in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the last 20 minutes of the match that the guys haven't played for a while," said Williams.
"We haven't played enough yet, but we will be ready for the World Cup."
Williams believes next week's Test against the All Blacks in Port Elizabeth and the first four group matches at the World Cup will be enough to prepare the Boks for the crunch knockout-games.
Williams was also highly impressed with Brüssow's performance, while Du Plessis, Bakkies Botha, Jaque Fourie and Beast Mtawarira also caught the eye of the former Bok flyer.
Click to BUY The Springboks and the Holy Grail book
Corné Krige, the Springbok captain at the Rugby World Cup in 2003 says there are more than enough highlights for Bok coach Peter de Villiers to take out of Saturday's loss with the World Cup in mind.
"The were so many positives, the difference between the teams was very small," Krige told the Rapport newspaper.
Krige says fetcher flank Heinrich Brüssow was "unbelievable".
"To play like that in your first game back, takes a man," said Krige.
He was also impressed with replacement hooker Bismarck du Plessis and believes De Villiers should consider taking Smit off the field after 60 minutes.
Krige believes Victor Matfield is a "good enough" captain to take charge until the end of the game.
Former Springbok wing and 1995 World Cup winner, Chester Williams also feels there's no need to panic ahead of the Word Cup.
"We are definitely on the right track. You could see in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the last 20 minutes of the match that the guys haven't played for a while," said Williams.
"We haven't played enough yet, but we will be ready for the World Cup."
Williams believes next week's Test against the All Blacks in Port Elizabeth and the first four group matches at the World Cup will be enough to prepare the Boks for the crunch knockout-games.
Williams was also highly impressed with Brüssow's performance, while Du Plessis, Bakkies Botha, Jaque Fourie and Beast Mtawarira also caught the eye of the former Bok flyer.