Disappointed Boks are looking ahead
“Everybody here is as disappointed as everybody home. We’ve got to go out, train hard and set it right on Saturday.”
|||Cape Town – After being shocked by Japan in their Rugby World Cup tournament over the weekend in Brighton, the Springboks are determined to help erase that memory with a convincing performance against tough Samoa in Birmingham on Saturday.
Assistant coach Johan van Graan said on Tuesday the Boks had a decent video review of the Japan defeat. “We scored four tries, had a hundred percent set-piece, over a hundred breakdowns and we lost four… And we still lost the match.
“We were over the tryline three times without scoring and we know we have things to fix before Saturday. The weekend was very disappointing. But it is in the past and we can only control the present. We have to love with the decisions we made.
“Our finishing has to improve, but you can only train it. We’ve been working hard and scored some fantastic tries over the weekend, but this (situation) is not desired. Everybody here are as disappointed as everybody home. We’ve got to go out, train hard and set it right on Saturday.
“Samoa have a fantastic team with some brilliant players, like the Pisi brothers (Ken, George and Tusi), Kahn Fotuali’i at scrumhalf, Jack Lam and the prop (Census) Johnstone. They’re well coached. There aren’t weak teams here.”
Hooker Bismarck du Plessis said the Boks were focused on Saturday and aren’t too worried about the prospect of niggle in the Samoa game, after an ill-tempered clash in 2011 between these teams.
“We have to trust our process. We have no control over what they do, but must stay calm and focused.”
Du Plessis said the defeat against Japan was tough to bear. “It was a tough day on Saturday, very emotional. The bus ride here was very quiet. But the sun rose again in the morning. We’ll have to put emotion aside and the nice thing of rugby is that you get another chance the next Saturday.
“France lost two pool matches and made the 2011 final. Spain won the football in SA 2010 after losing their first match.”
Fiery lock Eben Etzebeth refused to be singled out as the Boks physical enforcer ahead of the Samoa clash. “Everyone in our pack is physical; not just me.
“It is a team effort. We’ll just look at our stuff, but we know we will definitely have to be disciplined. If we maintain our discipline, we’ll be OK. Every game we go in pumped up. Samoa is just a little extra bit physical. But every time you put on a Bok jersey you have to be ready to front up.”
African News Agency