Matfield: RWC not a two-horse race

 

The Springboks, who have been kept away from their unions for the final stages of the Currie Cup, have been busily preparing in Stellenbosch for their Northern Hemisphere tour that begins in Dublin against Ireland on November 8.

 

The year-end tour, which has been relabelled by Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer as 'the Fresh Northern Hemisphere Tour' has taken on a different importance this year.

 

"We have had two weeks extra to prepare for the year-end tour which is fantastic," Matfield said from Stellenbosch on Thursday.

 

"Heyneke [Meyer] have relabelled this tour as the 'Fresh Northern Hemisphere Tour', so there are no excuses.

 

"We want to go there and use it as preparation for the World Cup, because that is where the tournament will take place."

 

The Springboks will face Ireland, England, Italy and finally Wales with Matfield already identifying the dangers that these teams can bring – especially Ireland and England.

 

"I think Ireland is going to be a huge game, they are the Six Nations champions, they have played really well so far this year," Matfield continued.

 

"Looking at their stats they are right up there with New Zealand and South Africa.

 

"England as well, they did really well against the All Blacks in New Zealand.

 

"There were chances of them winning games over there, so it is going to be a tough tour – it is not going to be simple."

 

The fact that the World Cup is being played in England means that conditions will be something many of the youngsters will be unaccustomed to and for Matfield it also means that the home nations will be at a massive advantage.

 

"A lot of the home nations, England, Ireland and Wales, will think they are in with a chance of winning the World Cup, so it will make it a tough tournament," he said.

 

"There is definitely more than one or two teams that can win it.

 

"What is important to remember is that we have not lost in the last two or three years over there [the Northern Hemisphere] so if we go through this tour without losing and enter the World Cup with a three-year perfect record in the north – it will give us a lot of confidence.

 

"The conditions are also different, we have this new style of play where we want to go out there with an attacking mind set, so all our decision making will have to adapt to the conditions and we will have to play in a way that suits us."