'We've got solutions': Boks to scramble in Cape Town?
SPOTLIGHT: The Springboks have “solutions” to a problem that gave them plenty of headaches last weekend.
That problem comes in the form of veteran Wallaby flyhalf James O’Connor.
The 35-year-old was an integral figure in the Wallabies’ fightback against the Boks in their sensational 38-22 win at Ellis Park.
After a slow start, O’Connor rolled back the years with his unpredictability on attack. However, he is set to have a target on his back when the teams meet again in Cape Town this weekend.
Springbok utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has been named on the bench for Saturday’s clash, is confident that they can make life a bit more difficult for O’Connor.
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“I think he had a solid game,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu told @rugby365com.
“In the first 20 minutes, he kind of felt what we were about, so we just want to replicate that.
“Those passes he was getting over the top – we’ve analysed why that happened and how that happened, and we think we’ve got the solutions to stop that from happening.
“I wish him a solid game, but I think we will be able to tie him down better this week.”
While the Boks’ rush defence failed to stop the Aussies last week, it will still be a core part of their game going forward.
“We have a defensive system where we apply pressure on the opposition, and sometimes you have to concede a few metres on the edges,” Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu added.
“It is something we know about, and it is nothing that is new to us.”
“We haven’t focused on it too much. There were system errors leading up to these bridge passes that caught us in those positions, so those are things we looked at fixing.
“However, sometimes we are going to have to give the opposition a bridge pass, and we are going to scramble like we always do and catch them on the next phase.”
@rugby365com
