Springbok manager Arthob Petersen hailed the team’s end-of-year tour as a ”great success” after they arrived back in South Africa on Monday morning, having completed the first undefeated European tour since 1997.
”Our victories over Wales [20-15], Scotland [14-10] and England [42-6] are significant for various reasons,” said Petersen. ”We have extended our winning sequences respectively against Wales to 10,
against Scotland to ten and against England to six. The 42-6 win over England was a record defeat for the English at home.
”But these are the statistics. The real success of the tour is measured in what we have achieved as a team and the progress we have made over the past few weeks.
”Firstly, the tour again confirmed the leadership qualities of our captain John Smit. John’s contribution was nothing short of colossal and he was ably supported by the senior players around him.
”Secondly, it showed the wealth of depth that we have in our squad. When we were affected by injuries during the last week of the tour, we had players of quality to fill the gaps left by injured players — and these guys performed exceptionally — notably Ricky Januarie, who was man of the match against England.
”The depth was also evident in the impact made by players coming off the bench. This is borne out in part by Jaque Fourie’s spectacular tries against Scotland and England and the contributions made by Brian Mujati, Andries Bekker, Gurthro Steenkamp, Ryan Kankowski and Francois Steyn. We also welcomed a new member into the Springbok family with Heinrich Brussow making his debut against England.
”The tour has shown that Ruan Pienaar definitely has a future as a Test flyhalf. He is not yet the complete product but he made great strides over the past month and proved he had what it takes to make the switch. He made a major contribution to the victory over England, both tactically and with the boot.
”Whilst injuries prevented us from gathering a true measure of the success of John Smit’s switch to tighthead prop, when he did play there he stood his ground and looked very comfortable. The tour has given us a comprehensive insight into some of the players who will be part of the British and Irish Lions tour squad in 2009.
”The wins, and particularly the way we ended against England, I believe, will have given us a psychological boost for the Lions tour. We have a lot of work to do between now and then but I am convinced that we are on the right track and that if we can consistently produce performances such as those over Australia and England this year, we will be able to secure a series win next year.
”The players have earned a deserved break but they will resume the hard work early in the new year when the Super 14 gets under way,” Petersen concluded. – Sapa