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Cape Town - When the Springboks beat Wales in the quarter-final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, it took a 75th minute try from scrumhalf Fourie du Preez to get the job done.
The Boks emerged as 23-18 winners in an incredibly tight game, and it took a moment of individual brilliance to separate the sides.
That moment came from Duane Vermeulen, who under extreme pressure made the offload to Du Preez out the back of his hand for his side's only try of the game.
"That was actually a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing," Vermeulen said on Tuesday when asked if he had something similar up his sleeve for Sunday's 2019 semi-final against the same opposition.
"I don’t know if I have anything lined up yet. We’ll see during the week if I can try something different, try something new.
"I will definitely tell you it won’t be a kick – as I’m not allowed to kick. That will be out of the question."
All jokes aside, Vermeulen knows that the Welsh will be an incredibly side to beat in Yokohama on Sunday.
"They are a difficult team to beat, to play against. They are not Grand Slam champions for nothing. They have been world No 1 this year – in and out, first and second position," he said.
"They’re a top-class team with top-class players. We will really need to make a massive step up.
"It’s not a team you can’t score against, but you have to be clinical in what you want to do and how you want to approach that."
The Boks may have lost their last four fixtures against Wales, but when it comes to World Cups there is no doubt, they have more pedigree having won the tournament twice and having appeared in four previous semi-finals.
Wales, meanwhile, are two-time semi-finalists having been eliminated at that stage on 1987 and 2011.
But does that mean anything?
"It’s actually a difficult thing," Vermeulen offered.
"In a way, it does. But in a different way, it’s got no relevance. When you get to these stages, it’s knockouts – so, do or die.
"But if you’ve been in pressure situations before, you kind of know how to handle that, how to soak it all in, and how to turn that pressure into something positive.
"We’ve got guys in our team who can do that. Wales have guys in their team who can do that too, who can handle the pressure and turn it around into something positive.
"But you’ve got to win. That’s the main thing."
Kick-off on Sunday is at 11:00 (SA time).
- Compiled by Lloyd Burnard
