Bok pack wants a '10 out of 10'
White expecting big onslaught from French forwards
Springbok captain John Smit wants the team's tight forwards to produce a performance that will earn them full marks when they face France in a one-off Test at Newlands on Saturday.
The Springboks are gearing for a fierce forward onslaught from a French team which has five forwards and just two backs on the replacement bench – a clear indication that they plan to take the Boks on up front.
"They have obviously backed the fact that they want to try and use their forward pack to get some ball," said Bok coach Jake White at the team's final pre-match media gathering in Cape Town on Friday.
The Bok mentor regards this ploy – a five-two split on the bench – as a risky venture, because you could land yourself in trouble with early injuries in the backline.
But he knows the French are sending a clear message to the Bok camp.
"There is no doubt, looking at their 22, they are going to back themselves in their forward pack and they are going to look at using their forward pack to get dominance," White said.
"If we can get quality ball and put them under pressure in the forwards, then we have the players at No.9 [scrum-half] and No.10 [fly-half] that have played enough times for South Africa to understand what they have to do."
Smit, meanwhile, acknowledged that the key, to winning this one-off Test, lies up front.
"The big thing about the French is that they hold their tight phases in high regard and that is obviously one of our primary jobs," he said.
"The challenges up front will be big and it will be a way to gauge ourselves on and I think if we can do better in the tight phases we'll be able to take pressure off our backs.
"We just want to play a solid game of rugby, with our first phases getting a tick of 10 out of 10 afterwards.
"It is a big call, but we really want to be strong in the line-outs, we want to make sure that our primary job as a pack enables the back to do virtually what they want."
White – who earlier this week said he would prefer it to rain on Saturday, in order to take the sting out of France's attacking flair – said the injury setbacks and possibility of a dry field would not alter his team's approach.
And, for good measure, he reiterated an earlier comment that the most important aspect was to create a winning culture. The best way to do that is to ensure that you win the game first, no matter how pretty or ugly it looks.
"I always said I wanted to create a winning culture and keep winning," White said.
By Jan de Koning
