OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Wednesday 11.45pm.
SOUTH Africa are safely into the semi-finals of the World Cup, but still coach Nick Mallett is having to deny reports of rifts in the Springbok camp.
Mallett, whose side face Australia in the semis at Twickenham on Saturday, said the spirit among squad members was excellent, refuting earlier rumours of discontent. He rejected as “lies” the repeated claims of personality clashes.
“It’s just absolute nonsense,” said Mallett.
“I don’t know who has invented this about the side not being together. All that happened was that the guys were disappointed with their performance against Spain and Uruguay – and that’s natural.
“The guys wanted to produce good rugby and to score tries and we weren’t able to do that, so they were depressed with their own performances.
“There’s a hell of a difference between being depressed in your own performance and not being united as a side.
“The whole seven or eight weeks we’ve been together there has been nothing but absolute support from the guys who have not been picked in the team.”
Springbok skipper Joost van der Westhuizen said the match against Australia presented his side with its biggest challenge at the World Cup.
“The spirit in the camp is even better than it was in 1995. There’s great respect among the players and they have confidence in each other. But we know what we’re in for on Saturday. We’re here to win the World Cup and the game against Australia will be another step towards that,” he said.
Mallett, meanwhile, has named the five men he believe stand between the defending champion Springboks and a second successive World Cup final appearance.
Mallett selected number eight Toutai Kefu, fly-half Stephen Larkham, scrum-half George Gregan and centres Tim Horan and Daniel Herbert as the Australians who threaten his side’s status as champions.
“It won’t take Australia 15 minutes before they start running at us,” Mallett told a press conference at his team’s training base in Richmond.
Kefu’s return from suspension, in particular, could lift the Australian attack, Mallett believes.
“Tiaan Strauss is very strong, but Kefu has a better step. He’s excellent with the ball in hand and gives them a lot of momentum,” he said.
Mallett also feels Larkham’s return to top form after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with knee and thumb injuries is a massive boost for the Wallabies.
“Larkham is a great player and makes very good decisions on the field,” he said. “Last year he played a little deeper because he likes time on the ball. But Australia will run at us and keep the ball in hand more than England.”
Mallett said he was not taking seriously the handling errors which plagued the Australian game in their 24-9 quarterfinal win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
“When you play the ball in hand as much as they do and you’re up against a side with good defence, you will get handling errors,” he said.
“Australia are a very skilful side. We’ve had two narrow one-point wins over them in the last two Tri Nations. They beat us comprehensively in Brisbane and we beat them at Ellis Park last year where we played very well.
“We’ve come through similar paths to the semifinals. They beat Wales in Cardiff, which is about the same as beating England in Paris. There’s not much to choose between us.
“I’m confident, though, that my side is certainly capable of winning on Saturday and on the following Saturday.” — AFP