Preview – Boks v Namibia

The Boks take on Namibia in a Rugby World Cup warm-up game at Newlands on Wednesday evening.

Match Details

Date: Wednesday 15 August 2007
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kickoff: 19:00 SA
TV Schedule: 18:45 SA – Supersport – CSN/SS1 SA v Namibia – LIVE
Live Web Commentary: 19.00 SA – Ou Grote (https://ougrote.com)

The Teams

Springboks

15. Percy Montgomery
14. Ashwin Willemse
13. Jaque Fourie
12. Jean de Villiers
11. JP Pietersen
10. Butch James
09. Fourie du Preez
08. Jaques Cronjé
07. Juan Smith
06. Schalk Burger
05. Victor Matfield
04. Bakkies Botha
03. CJ van der Linde
02. John Smit (C)
01. Os du Randt

Replacements:
16. Gary Botha
17. BJ Botha
18. Albert van den Berg
19. Johann Muller
20. Ricky Januarie
21. Ruan Pienaar
22. Akona Ndungane

Namibia:

15. Heini Bock
14. Bradley Langenhoven
13. Lu-Wayne Botes
12. Piet van Zyl
11. Melrick Africa
10. Emile Wessels
09. Jurie van Tonder
08. Jacques Burger
07. Tinus du Plessis
06. Jacques Nieuwenhuis
05. Nico Esterhuyse
04. Wacca Kazombiaze
03. Marius Visser
02. Hugo Horn
01. Kees Lensig (C)

Replacements:
16. JM Meyer
17. Jané du Toit
18. Johnny Redelinghuys
19. Herman Linvelt
20. Eugene Jantjies
21. Du Preez Grobler
22. TC Losper

What they are saying…

Jake White (Springbok Coach):

“Our intensity has to be good and we must be as accurate as possible in executing our moves. Of course, we won’t show all the cards that we will play during the World Cup tournament, but I want us to look sharp and produce some good driving play.

“This Test will be used to hone combinations. I want our tight-five and the halfbacks to have enough time to play together. Our centres have not played together for a long time.

“I want us to execute, in a match situation, the things that we have practiced. We have done a lot of planning for the World Cup. We will show some things but will also hide a few.

“I am not worried about spies from other countries. If your opponents target one of your players, that will open a gap for someone else.”

Hakkies Husselman (Namibia Coach):
 
“We are a tier three nation and we are playing a tier one nation so obviously it is going to be a very different challenge to what we are used to.

“At best we can expect about 30% ball possession, and the other 70% of the time we are going to have to defend. This is what we are going to face in our big World Cup games, so we must get used to it, we must see how well our defensive system holds.

“If we do well at Newlands then we will know we are on the right track. I also want to test our lineout against what must surely be the best locks in world rugby. One of the things we have been struggling with since we arrived in Cape Town is the weather. We have been training on very muddy fields and we are not used to that.”

Jean De Villiers (Springbok Centre):

“We will have to try and keep some things back, we don’t want to show our opponents everything ahead of the World Cup, but we will be trying out a lot of what we have been working on in training.

“That is why we have these warm-up matches, we need to put into practice in a match situation what we have done in training.

“There are a couple of goals we want to achieve against the Namibians, and it’s going to be important that we execute our moves correctly. We need to find out now what works and what doesn’t work, and make the adjustments where necessary. There are a few things that have changed a bit since Eddie has been involved, and now is the time for us to work on perfecting them ahead of the World Cup.

“I have really enjoyed working with Eddie, it has been great to hear a new voice and listen to new ideas. He has done so much and achieved so much as a coach that he has an enormous wealth of talent to impart.

“To me his input has been fantastic, but then I have always been in favour of being exposed to the different dynamic that comes through input from outside.

“We have been working during the past few weeks on getting the right mix of what we feel is right and what he feels he can add. It has made it interesting, and I have really enjoyed it. He has worked quite a bit with me, particularly on my running lines. I am going to change that quite a bit, and I am looking forward to trying it all out against Namibia.”

Victor Matfield (Springbok Lock):

“Yes, we want to get to the World Cup now, we’ve been working towards it for four years.

“I can’t wait to board the plane for France and get that first game under the belt, but we are not there yet.

“They (the warm-up games) are very important, because a number of us didn’t play and we need the warm-up games to get our edge back before the World Cup.

“The other aspect is to get the team established and gel as a unit.

“Jake has an idea what his team will look like and he will try some of those combinations.

“We don’t know which team will play in which games, but he has a plan for all of them and we’ll take it one game at a time.

“The team spirit is very good and we must take that onto the playing field.”

Kees Lensing (Namibia captain):

“The tables have definitely turned, because it wasn’t too long ago when I had Bakkies Botha pushing behind me. A lot is going to depend on how myself and the seven other guys in the pack combine as a unit.

“I’d prefer to scrum against CJ, even though I think he scrums illegally. He is taller which is preferable, but a lot of the time he slips the bind if he doesn’t get a good hit and has to bail out because of the pressure.

“I rate BJ very highly. He is a very awkward scrummager which makes it hard for the opposition, but I was surprised earlier in the year when he was criticised for illegal scrumming.”

Percy Montgomery (Bok Fullback):“Of course it will be an emotional game for me. I started my rugby career here with Western Province and I have played much of my big rugby at Newlands.

“I will also be playing my last game as a Springbok on South African soil against Namibia, which is the country where I was born. My father played for South West Africa, and one of my first rugby memories was of South West Africa beating WP at Newlands. I cannot remember the score, but remember watching the game from the scholar seating.

“I am a very loyal South African and will always be available for selection. I will always be just a phone-call away.

“I think that older guys who have already played for the Boks and who want to look after their future should maybe look at overseas options, but youngsters should stick to South Africa initially and make their career here first.

“But what would be ideal would be if Saru could find a way to keep the older players in jobs and make it attractive for them to finish their careers in South Africa. For a long time now we have been losing players to overseas towards the end of their careers, and it is not good for the youngsters coming through.

“When I was a young player we lost players like Francois Pienaar and Joel Stransky and then Gary Teichmann to overseas clubs. I don’t think that is right. The game in this country needs players like that to stay and let their experience rub off on the youngsters.”