Bokwatch – Bakkies hits 50

No, the Bok hardman has not been involved in a bar brawl – Bakkies talks about his 50th test, while Snor defends his selections and Henry lectures on discipline.

Read what the Kiwis are saying about Saturday’s game HERE.

Bakkies Botha is looking forward to his 50th test for the Boks.

“This is what I was born for. I enjoy a physical game and this is what it will be all about on Saturday. You can’t get anything more physical. You want to be tested against the best and it does not come better than from the All Blacks.

“To me it feels as if I’ll be playing in my first test. The main thing about this 50th test is that it comes through grace from above. It is the Lord who gave you the talent and who still gives you the power to play.

“The 50th test is a great privilege but then one looks ahead. I think the 100th will be even bigger. This, after all, is what it’s all about: to offer what you can to the team and to leave the field as winners.

“We know now what to expect from the All Blacks. We did not play them in the World Cup last year. Now the teams have taken a good look at each other. We will test each other in the scrums and lineouts this week.

“We want to win. End of the story. We believe in our hearts we can beat the All Blacks. It will be tough and merciless, yes, but everyone believes we can do it.”

Peter De Villiers talked about the selections for Saturday’s test.

“We have decided to include a left-footed and a right-footed kicker. I also know JP is a better kicker than Odwa. If the All Blacks try to pin us inside our 22 we have the ammunition to get out.

“We’ve selected the team for wet weather. (Joe Van Niekerk and Cheeky Watson jr) have certain strong points.

“If you take a good look at the scrums you will see we controlled the contact-making phase. What happened after that is what worried us. We did not even consider selecting other prop forwards.”

He talked about the pre-match meeting between the Boks, All Blacks and Saturday’s inexperienced Australian referee Matt Goddard.

“I’m the sort of guy who goes with the flow but there are a few things we want to bring to his attention. It’s great that New Zealand will be there too, because there’s nothing malicious about it, let’s bring it out into the open.

“The only thing we want is a fair contest in all areas, so maybe that will come up in the meeting.

Graham Henry also spoke about the meeting.

“We won’t take any issues into it, we just want to make sure there is clarity. We assume the problem is the scrum and if we are all on the same wavelength then it will be a better game.

“The rules are simple: you have to push straight and your head must be above your hips. As long as the six front-rowers all do that, there will be no issue. I assume both sides will help Matt Goddard to try and achieve that.”

Henry climbed up onto his high horse and spoke about the importance of discipline.

“I think discipline is a very important part of sport and a very important part of international rugby. If you lose your discipline, you won’t play as well as you should and there will be consequences as you do.

“So I think teams playing with discipline is critical and is something that we stress; we stress during the game and at halftime. And also we are role models for other young athletes as well, which means it is very important we play the game within the law and play with discipline.”

Obviously this message didn’t get through to Brad Thorn. Or maybe it did and there were just no consequences.

The New Zealanders are still hurting over the ‘special attention’ received from Butch James by their goldenboy Daniel Carter last Saturday.

Peter De Villiers congratulated the New Zealanders on their new-found rugby insight.

“This kind of thing is as old as Noah, but it’s great how they (New Zealand) have now picked up things that have been part of rugby for a hundred years. There will be late tackles, there have been for a hundred years and the referee is there to police that. But I was tackled late at school and in provincial games and that was never mentioned in the papers.

“From Thursday onwards the talk is over and done with, what happens on the field is more important. So we are now focusing on the test.

“But we know what we said and we believe in it. We didn’t just say it to hurt people or to be in the media like some comments.”

New Zealand scrum coach Mike Cron denied allegations that the All Blacks scrum illegally.

 “I don’t know what their gripe is to be honest. We coach legitimate technique, we don’t allow any illegal scrimmaging. I’m not being one-eyed. If we are doing something wrong, I would be the first to correct it.”