OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cardiff | Tuesday 10.30am.
BREYTON Paulse is one of the smallest wings in international rugby. Jonah Lomu is undoubtedly the biggest.
Paulse, however, says he has no fears about facing the New Zealand superstar if he is named in the South African side to play the All Blacks in the third-place playoff at the World Cup on Thursday night.
The Western Province utility back is expected to be named in South Africa’s starting side after first-choice right wing Deon Kayser broke his jaw in the Springboks’ 27-21 semi-final loss to Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
Paulse stands just 1.70m and weighs just 75kg to the 1.95m and 118kg of the massive Lomu, who has already scored eight tries in the tournament.
“I don’t worry too much about the big man Lomu,” Paulse said. “It’s difficult to stop him, sure, but we’ll all get stuck into him. I’ll have the support of my teammates.
“We want to go out there and play positive running rugby. No matter that this game is to decide who finished in third position. We still want to perform.”
Paulse said South Africa can learn from France’s stunning 43-31 upset victory over the All Blacks on Sunday.
“They showed they could win by playing positive rugby. And they did that by running the ball or kicking it as the opportunity presented itself. They took the right options at the right time,” he said.
“The French showed the World Cup could be won by scoring tries. It’s difficult to play out of yourselves when you have to stick to a predetermined game plan, but I’m sure Nick Mallett will tell us to just go out there and enjoy ourselves, to play to our strengths.
“Sometimes it isn’t possible to play entertaining rugby. For a one-off, like a quarter-final or semi-final, you have to play negatively and force the opposition into making mistakes and then play off that platform.
“Having played in the semi-finals and got so close, it is disappointing to have to play for third place. It’s going to be difficult to get up for this match, but we know that we have to lift ourselves.” — AFP