All Blacks will 'take care of the Boks'
New Zealand won’t get carried away with predictions of Tri-Nations and World Cup success and will take care of “what’s in front of us”, stand-in skipper Keven Mealamu said on Friday.
That would be archrival South Africa on Saturday.
Mealamu captains an All Blacks team that’s unbeaten this season, ranked No.1 and chasing an eighth Tri-Nations title in 10 seasons when they face the struggling Springboks in Port Elizabeth.
But pitchside at Nelson Mandela Stadium, Mealamu told reporters the on-form All Blacks – overwhelming favourites for the World Cup – weren’t looking any further than South Africa.
The Tri-Nations title hadn’t even come into their reckoning, he said, after their winning start.
“Everyone has got their eyes set on the World Cup at the moment. I think we’ve just got to take care of what’s in front of us right now and that’s doing our best to make sure we can win the test tomorrow,” Mealamu said.
“We have a lot of respect for the Springboks and we’ll never come to South Africa thinking you just come over here and you win a game … we know how hard it is to win tests over here against the Springboks.”
New Zealand had been able to “build some nice confidence” this season, was all Mealamu would say.
After a convincing 40-7 home win over South Africa’s second-stringers earlier in the Tri-Nations, the roles have been reversed for Saturday.
New Zealand has rested frontliners for the trip across the Indian Ocean, and South Africa will field a far stronger lineup than in the meeting in Wellington.
But despite the absence this week of many top stars for the All Blacks -including captain Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter – Mealamu said the match still had a “real feel of the old South Africa-New Zealand rivalry.”
“When you look at the squad that they [South Africa] have picked it’s definitely going to be a physical day for us,” the hooker said. “Especially up front, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Ahead of the first Springboks-All Blacks showdown in Port Elizabeth in 41 years, Mealamu’s own preparations included some advice via text message from regular skipper McCaw.
“I got a good text from him [McCaw] a day ago and there’s just a couple of things I might have to cover,” said Mealamu, who will lead the All Blacks for the second time in his 85th test. “It’s pretty handy having him in my corner. Some good words of wisdom there.”
Smiling, Mealamu wouldn’t share what the message said.
SAPA-AP
