South Africa flanker Schalk Burger is relishing the thought of a forward battle against England when the two teams meet in the World Cup final on Saturday.
Both the Springboks and the English have progressed through their respective pool games and knock-out phase on the back of dominant performances by their packs, and Burger, conspicuous by his flowing golden locks and known for his abrasive all-action style, cannot wait for the challenge.
”They’ve been playing well, especially their forwards, which is something we also pride ourselves on, so we are looking forward to the contest,” Burger said. ”I can’t wait to get started on Saturday.”
Burger said South Africa’s 36-0 trouncing of England in the pool stage was now water under the bridge, and Saturday’s game was starting afresh.
”It’s a final. We are starting over,” he said. ”That pool game has been forgotten. We have now got a job to do on Saturday.
”It’s a brand-new week and it’s a brand-new game. Since then they’ve come through the rest of the tournament pretty well.”
Burger acknowledged that England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson, who did not play in the pool loss, was an experienced player who could only bolster English hopes.
”He’s a fantastic player and a match-winner,” said Burger.
”He has been around and won a World Cup. He has made a big impact on their game so he’s a dangerous player.
”He will definitely make a big difference in the England side and he is one of their key players.”
Burger predicted that there will be a lot of kicking in the final, a tactic that has featured in many of the tighter knock-out games.
”I think that’s the way it will go,” he admitted. ”I think territory, where you play the most rugby, is important.
”In saying that, I think we have still got to go out and play. We can’t fall into a trap where you get forced out of the game plan, just kicking aimlessly, so we’ve got to stick to our structures and hopefully that will work for us on Saturday.”
Both Burger and Bok flyhalf Butch James said they wanted a good ending to Jake White’s reign as South Africa coach, the final expected to be his last game as Springbok boss.
”A lot of us have come through age-group rugby where he coached us, like at under-21 level,” said Burger.
”In the past four years he has become really close to us. We know that on Saturday it’s a bit of a waste if we lose. We’ve done a lot of hard work and hopefully we’ll play some good rugby.”
James added: ”He’s backed a lot guys in this squad for the past four years so they play every game for him. We want a happy ending, all of us, and we’ll hopefully be able to give him one.”
The number 10 added that the pool victory over England was without meaning if the Boks did not finish the game off on the weekend.
”There’s no point in beating them in that pool game if we don’t beat them in the final,” he said.
”I don’t think we’ll carry confidence from that pool game. It’s 80 minutes and anything can happen.
”I think England have come a long way since then. They have been playing in form, they have all their players back so they are going to be really tough this weekend.” — Sapa-AFP