‘Boks must stamp authority on Japan’
John McFarland says a dominant performance against the minnows will enhance the Springboks’ confidence.
|||Eastbourne - As much as the Springboks will be wary of the banana peel that minnows Japan pose ahead of their Rugby World Cup opener on Saturday, there is an air of determination within the Springbok camp and their eagerness to show the rest of the world what it is they bring to the tournament.
The Springboks expectations of themselves are far greater than the unlikely upset that the Japanese will be seeking but the game won’t take anything away from how the Springboks want to play the game according to defence coach John McFarland.
“For us it’s going to be about how we play. We will be required to make small tweaks game by game but it’s about how we play and what we do over the next four weeks,” McFarland said.
Stamping their authority on the game against Japan will certainly enhance the confidence within the South Africans team especially with many of their frontline players having suffered long term injuries in the lead up to the tournament.
But McFarland says the Springboks won’t be approaching their opening game with blinkers and that the Japanese are a more formidable opponent than what is often perceived about them as minnows.
The fact that they have a handful of players with Super Rugby experience and are mentored by the much respected former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones, are the things that make Japan a dangerous and tricky proposition for the Springboks.
Jones guided the Wallabies to a World Cup final loss at the hands of England in 2003 and played a heavy hand with his technical aptitude as Jake White’s advisor when the Springboks hoisted their second world title in 2007.
“It is up to us to control the tempo of the game. They’ve got some players who have Super Rugby experience and they are a well-coached team. They are coached by a guy who has been involved in a side that has won a World Cup and played in a World Cup final. They know what they are about, they are well organised and we are expecting a quick game. They will try take us off the pace of our game so we must be ready for anything,” said McFarland.
McFarland has spent the past two years studying the Japanese and he would have certainly picked the brains of Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and loose forward Schalk Burger with their intimate understanding of Japanese rugby, and believes that the Springboks won’t have it all their way.
“I’ve watched a lot of them over the past year and I’ve seen them inside out. They keep the ball well but there are some games where they’ve made mistakes and those turnovers have led to points against them. But there are games where they pushed the Maoris close last year. They’ve won seven out of 10 this year and they are a good, well-organised side and they have some good players”.
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