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Wellington - Springbok tighthead prop CJ van der Linde believes the New Zealand haka doesn’t give the All Blacks an advantage but motivates the Springboks even more so than the All Blacks.
VIDEO: New Zealand haka
Van der Linde will play in his 61st Test against New Zealand at the Westpac stadium on Saturday. The big Free State prop has been included in the starting line-up in the place of the injured Jannie du Plessis.
“I think the haka is a great thing,” Van der Linde said at the Springbok-hotel on Thursday.
“As a small child I watched the haka on TV and always dreamt of facing it one day. I don’t think it gives the All Blacks an advantage at all. I think all it does is psyche up and motivate the opposition,” he said.
The experienced prop says the Boks will still be hurting after last week’s loss 32-12 loss at the hands of the Kiwis and they will be extremely motivated to turn things around this week.
“The nice thing about the Tri-Nations is that if you lose your first game, you still have six game to set the record straight. Luckily we are able to sort things out within seven days. We studied the video of the last Test and know where we went wrong and where we will have to improve.
The 122 kg prop has been playing his rugby in the Northern Hemisphere the past two years and he believes that that he has learnt quite a bit while playing there for Leinster in Ireland.
“The game is a bit slower there because of the weather conditions. It is not conducive to speeding up the game. A lot of emphasis is placed on the scrums. I think my scrummaging has improved because of this. Hopefully I will be able to put the experience I have gained to good use in the Tri-Nations and the rest of the games this year.”
Van der Linde believes the Boks don’t have a problem with their discipline.
“We only conceded five penalties in our last game. A lot of things have been said about the Bakkies Botha incident. However, that is now something of the past. Our focus is now on Saturday’s game.” he said.
Wellington - Springbok tighthead prop CJ van der Linde believes the New Zealand haka doesn’t give the All Blacks an advantage but motivates the Springboks even more so than the All Blacks.
VIDEO: New Zealand haka
Van der Linde will play in his 61st Test against New Zealand at the Westpac stadium on Saturday. The big Free State prop has been included in the starting line-up in the place of the injured Jannie du Plessis.
“I think the haka is a great thing,” Van der Linde said at the Springbok-hotel on Thursday.
“As a small child I watched the haka on TV and always dreamt of facing it one day. I don’t think it gives the All Blacks an advantage at all. I think all it does is psyche up and motivate the opposition,” he said.
The experienced prop says the Boks will still be hurting after last week’s loss 32-12 loss at the hands of the Kiwis and they will be extremely motivated to turn things around this week.
“The nice thing about the Tri-Nations is that if you lose your first game, you still have six game to set the record straight. Luckily we are able to sort things out within seven days. We studied the video of the last Test and know where we went wrong and where we will have to improve.
The 122 kg prop has been playing his rugby in the Northern Hemisphere the past two years and he believes that that he has learnt quite a bit while playing there for Leinster in Ireland.
“The game is a bit slower there because of the weather conditions. It is not conducive to speeding up the game. A lot of emphasis is placed on the scrums. I think my scrummaging has improved because of this. Hopefully I will be able to put the experience I have gained to good use in the Tri-Nations and the rest of the games this year.”
Van der Linde believes the Boks don’t have a problem with their discipline.
“We only conceded five penalties in our last game. A lot of things have been said about the Bakkies Botha incident. However, that is now something of the past. Our focus is now on Saturday’s game.” he said.
