South Africa may have hit triple-figures the only time they played, but humble Namibia will have a point to prove to the defending champions at the World Cup, Springbok forwards coach Gary Gold said yesterday.
No one is giving the 19th-ranked Namibia a hope in stemming the surging ’Bok tide at North Harbour today, but Gold said pride was at stake for the Welwitschias and it shapes as their “final.”
The comparison between the two African neighbors is stark. The Springboks are two-time World Cup champions, while Namibia have yet to win a single World Cup match and were hammered 49-25 by Fiji and 49-12 by Samoa at this tournament.
However, Gold cautioned against tagging Namibia “minnows” even though the Springboks lashed them with 15 tries in their only meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, four years ago which ended in a 105-13 frolic.
“A lot of these guys know our guys, they know us probably more intimately than a lot of people we get to play again in world rugby,” Gold told reporters. “Many of them play in South Africa, play club rugby in South Africa, some of them play provincial rugby and obviously [Namibia skipper] Jacques Burger plays in the [English] Premiership and he’s well known in South Africa.”
“These guys have a point to prove. Many of the Namibian guys are friends of our guys and pride is at stake here,” Gold added. “Rugby’s in their blood as much as it’s in our blood and for them they’ll want to come out and prove a point.”
Burger said his team was receiving plenty of messages of support.
“It is partly like playing your brother. We are excited,” said Burger, who plays for London’s Saracens. “I think people are very excited. We have had so many messages. They are very excited we are going up against the ’Boks. It is definitely nice because we all grew up with the ’Boks.”
“A lot of people in South Africa have a soft spot for Namibia and will get behind us,” Burger added. “You have that support every day and you can feel the support from the people. I definitely think we will do well.”
Gold said the Springboks, bidding to equal their record of 10 consecutive World Cup wins today, respect Namibia and will have their focus on them and not who South Africa will be facing in the quarter-finals.
“You see it when teams get labeled with the so-called ‘minnows’ and for Namibia this could potentially be their final to want to pitch up and prove themselves against the Springboks,” he said. “From our point of view, we realize that and we respect that in them and we know their coaches as well, we know their coaching structures are very good at the moment.”
“So our focus at the moment has got to be on Namibia and give them the respect they deserve for this game,” Gold added.
Meanwhile, Springbok loosehead Gurthro Steenkamp said the way the scrums are being refereed at the World Cup is “awesome” for props.
Steenkamp, a strong scrummager, said he was delighted with the way referees are officiating scrum time at the tournament, although the Wallabies may disagree after their try-less 15-6 loss to Ireland last weekend.
“Ireland were spectacular at it and at the end of the day, the dominant scrums should be rewarded and be able to launch attacks better and definitely the way it’s been reffed at the moment is awesome,” Steenkamp said. “It’s keeping the guys honest and ensuring the strongest scrum to dominate.”
“We’re looking forward to the way things have been reffed at the moment and it’s making it awesome for the props because you know that if you are stronger than your opponent you’re going to get the better call,” he added.
Gold said the teams with the stronger scrums were getting their rewards at the World Cup.
“A lot of people predicted that scrums were going to be a factor in this World Cup,” he said. “The teams that have scrummed well have been able to launch well from those scrum plays and it has seemed to have paid dividends for the teams who have stronger scrums.”
Gold said he was encouraged by the refereeing performances at the tournament.
“For me, across the board I think the referees have been really good in rewarding the stronger scrums,” he said. “The guys who have come out and wanted to scrum and have been legal at it have been rewarded accordingly.”
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