OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Thursday 5.15pm.
AUSTRALIAN captain John Eales is playing down the threat posed by Springbok fly-half Jannie De Beer ahead of the crunch World Cup semi-final between the Wallabies and the Springboks at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Australian squad have spent the past 48 hours studying videos of South Africa’s quarter-final victory over England – a match in which De Beer landed a world record five drop goals and kicked 34 points in total.
Eales said he was confident that “lightning doesn’t strike twice”.
“There is even more pressure and expectation on Jannie because of his performance in Paris,” Eales said. “All eyes will be trained on him and that suits us fine.
“It was an incredible kicking display but drop goals are still very rare. Despite all the experience in our squad no-one has ever scored a drop goal in a test match – and that puts his achievement into perspective.
“We obviously are very aware of his abilities, however, and we do have a gameplan for dealing with the threat.”
Eales believes Australia have yet to hit top form during the World Cup despite cruising to victory in Group E and comfortably defeating hosts Wales in the last eight.
They have conceded only one try in four matches but their much- vaunted attack has been less than menacing on occasion.
“We’ve got to move our game to another level now,” Eales said. “These guys will provide us with our biggest challenge yet and we have to be prepared.
“South Africa are a very physical team and they are strong in all areas, especially the front and second rows. They are a totally different side from the Tri Nations squad – as they demonstrated against England.
“This is not just another game. This is a massive match and if we lose then it’s four years hard work totally ruined.”
Eales is one of only a handful of survivors from the Australian squad that won the World Cup at Twickenham eight years ago and he acknowledges this may be his last opportunity for another taste of glory.
“I’ve had some good and bad experiences at Twickenham,” he said.
“I was only 21 when we won the World Cup and I also made my 50th Wallaby appearance there.
“My career is on the downhill slide now. I don’t know how many seasons I’ve got left but this may be my last chance to achieve something really big in the game.
“It was incredible playing in the Millennium Stadium last week despite the partisan home crowd. It’s a great stage for rugby and it made us determined to get back there in 10 days’ time.” — AFP