Countdown Day 4 – Boks vs Australia

The countdown to Saturday’s clash continued with all the talking coming, surprisingly, not from the Wallaby camp but from the Springboks.

Jake White waded mischievously into the Lote Tuqiri controversy, Breyton Paulse talked about the upcoming clash, Derick Hougaard added his two cents along with Waylon Murray, Heinke van der Merwe and ‘the hardest forward in our rugby’ Wikus van Heerden.

First up Jake White on Lote Tuqiri’s suspension and what effect it will have on the Australians in this year’s Tri-Nations.

“I think he is a huge loss to the Wallabies as he is one of the best players in the world. He is a very, very special player and he’s very, very important to the Wallabies in the way he contributes on the field.

“I’m sure they will miss him on the weekend. He does have a huge impact, as shown if you do the analysis and see what sort of role he plays in the Australian team – in terms of ball in hand and defensively. I stress it again – he is a very special player.”

“You can’t buy experience, and a guy like Lote has been around for Australia for a long time. He’s got a lot of Test caps. He is very important to the way they play. He is very important to their back-line attack.

“I really do feel for Lote. I saw the fine he has received, and the other thing is people are saying, ‘Thank you, Lote, for costing us the Bledisloe,’ and all that. Can you imagine? That guy must be hurting,” concluded White.

South Africa’s most experienced player for Saturday’s match, Breyton Paulse, talked to the AAP about his role in leading the Boks’ young backline into battle.

“We’ve got a very young backline so I’ve got to keep the guys calm, especially when the pressure comes playing against guys like Larkham, Gregan and Mortlock.

“It’s going to be difficult. It’s hard to tell the guys what to expect from them, because Larkham really runs good lines, I think. I still respect him as one of the best at five-eighth. It’s hard to plan against him because he always gets away every time. You’ve got to watch him very closely and especially the guys inside him, the flankers.

“George has been a great champion to Australian rugby and to world rugby, and his experience is so crucial for them. He is a wonderful organiser around the rucks and in the backs and the way he talks. It’s an amazing combination the two of them. You’ve got to respect that, but at the same time make sure you don’t give them too much space otherwise you’re going to have a long day.”

Bok flyhalf Derick ‘Liefling’ Hougaard had a few things to say about his form in an interview with rugby365.com

“My first big Test was against Samoa in 2003 and then New Zealand in the quarter-finals. I have now been with the team for five or six weeks and I also have more or less an idea of what Jake expects… You’re not just thrown in at the deep end.

“Obviously there are some new faces around, but just to be in the picture for five or six weeks and being allowed to get used to the structures already plays a very important role. I’m really looking forward to it and the last six weeks have been very good for me – I must just go out on Saturday and enjoy it. There are many players who would love to play for South Africa and I have that opportunity.
 
“I’m nowhere near where I want to be as a fly-half and there’s a lot of work to be done still. However, you do grow as a player. At the Bulls with Heyneke and other coaches you always strive to improve.

“Things are going well for me at this stage, but on any given day any player can struggle. I have seen often how top players struggle. However, because of the experience I have gained it does become easier to adjust my game.

“This still remains a team sport and the individual will find it tough to achieve on his own. If the team does well, the individuals will do well. Our biggest challenge on Saturday will be to click as a team and if the team clicks then the individuals will also look good.”

The Lions’ loosehead prop Heinke van der Merwe revealed his surprise at being called out to Australia to join the Bok squad after the injury to Cobus Visagie.

“It really was a big surprise. We were at training, a video session, when coach Eugene Eloff told me I had to join the Boks. I have heard nothing from Jake White, I just heard that I must pack my bags,” he said.

“I certainly didn’t expect it. Of course it is any player’s dream to one day play for the Springboks, but I certainly didn’t expect it so soon. I’m still young and have many years ahead of me. It is really a big bonus for me to join up with the Boks in Australia. Because I’m so young I was geared to work towards it sometime in the future.”

Centre Waylon Murray had a few things to say about his upcoming clash with Stirling Mortlock on the weekend.

“I’m not nervous, but I am anxious. I came on very late in my Super 14 debut two years ago in Canberra against the Brumbies (Mortlock’s Super 14 team). So this will be officially my first experience of really playing against him.

“If you don’t find any positive things from your own game, you have already lost the battle before you go out there on the field. So I am trying to be all positive at the moment. But I know that when I get onto the park it will be a tough 80 minutes.

He spoke about the Australian press rubbishing the Bok team in the build up to the Test.

“Talk of that nature is massively motivational as far as we’re concerned. Coming together at such short notice and being fuelled by comments in the paper like that are a magnificent thing for us to come up against. I think we can beat the Australians. We believe we have prepared adequately.”

Finally, Bok hard-man Wikus van Heerden had his say on Saturday’s battle.

“How well we gel as a team is anybody’s guess. That is fair comment. We will have had ten days of pulling together as a team on the practice field but in the heat of battle, we will see how effectively we have bonded.

“But I can tell you this about the forward pack, we have a bunch of fighters, guys who are real characters in South African rugby. Look at Johan Ackermann, the guy is a legend, a gentle giant off the field but on it he is probably the toughest we have got.

“Next to him Johann Muller is known as the hardest working lock in our rugby. At hooker Gary Botha is a very fiery customer and he has waited so long for his chance; at No 8 Bob Skinstad is a born leader and look at the tough edge he has added to his game this year. Our props, the Free Staters (CJ van der Linde and Jannie Du Plessis) are heroes at the Cheetahs.

“As I said, this is a good bunch of guys and we are going to play for each other, wait and see. The thing is, we have all been around a while and we understand that we have a massive responsibility to the Springbok jersey.

“This business of ‘second-stringers’ is nonsense. In ten years’ time, when people are looking over the results of the Springboks in 2007, they are not going to see a scoreline of Australia X South Africa ‘B’ team Y. This is Springboks versus Wallabies, full stop! And we have come here to win this game, full stop!”

Jake White added a few complimentary words on the tough-as-teak flanker, son of the legendary Bok Moaner van Heerden who coined the phrase ‘Cowboys don’t cry”.

“I am not going to mention names, but more than a few top South African forwards have told me that he is the hardest forward in our rugby. We know that he is tireless, that he is the archetypal 110 percenter, but I was quite interested to hear what his fellow players had to say about his bravery and ignorance of pain. What a guy to have in your team.”