The Springboks slipped quietly into New Zealand on Thursday, leaving their hosts to do the trash-talking this time as they finish their preparations for Saturday’s Tri-Nations clash at Hamilton.
Relations between the two teams have always been strained at best, but the South Africans upset the New Zealand public this week when they chose to remain in Australia to practice because they considered Hamilton too boring for their liking.
The Springboks were far more diplomatic when they arrived on Thursday, remaining tight-lipped and refusing to speak to local journalists as they try to rebound from last week’s loss to the Australians, which put their title charge on hold.
The code of silence was not shared by their All Black opponents, who lit the fuse for an explosive forwards battle at the weekend by poking fun at the Springboks’ scrum and their coach’s suggestion that international referees were all conspiring against the world champions.
The scrum has long been a great source of strength and pride for South African teams, but New Zealand’s 21-year-old tighthead prop, Owen Franks, did not hesitate when asked if he thought it was now their weakest link.
”I think it is,” he told the New Zealand Press Association.
”We’ve seen a couple of things we can exploit and we’ve just been working hard to basically do that.
”We’re going to bring it on Saturday at scrum time. We’ve been working pretty hard just to dominate basically, to really follow the Aussies.”
The New Zealanders more were generous in their assessment of the Springbok backs and the pin-point kicking game that proved decisive when the teams met in South Africa earlier this season.
The New Zealand back three were peppered with bombs they struggled to defuse in their two defeats, but say they have been able to identify the problems through training.
”We were jumping too early, getting underneath the ball, as opposed to going through the air,” fullback Mils Muliaina explained.
”We’ve struggled to get up and claim the catches. And when we have, we’ve been isolated and turned balls over.
”That’s the frustrating thing, a lot of the teams who are making mistakes are the teams who are having a go.
”You take your hat off to the South Africans, they are doing it really well. We’re probably not as good as we should be.” — Reuters