Revealed - What will make White happy
'It was possibly the ugliest game we've ever played together' – Smit
Springbok coach Jake White has revealed what he would like to achieve from Saturday's one-off Test clash with France in Cape Town.
Sure, he admits, a victory would be nice – when isn't it? – but more importantly, the Bok boss would like to see a marked improvement from his forward unit after last November's disappointing loss in Paris, when the Boks went down 20-26; a scoreline which many felt flattered South Africa.
"The last time we played France we let ourselves down as a forward pack," said White. "It wasn't even close to what we achieved in Port Elizabeth (when SA won 27-13 in June).
"Obviously, we need to take charge in the forwards to have a chance of winning this match. If that happens then I'll also know that we're moving forward as a team."
Bok skipper John Smit – who will play his 33rd consecutive Test for South Africa, six behind record holder Gary Teichmann – says his team is looking forward to Saturday's showdown at Newlands.
"In a way it's almost been a build-up over the last two years," explained Smit. "Last year we drew in Durban, then won well in PE after being really geared up, before losing in Paris. We went over to France intent on winning… we lost by six points in what was possibly the ugliest game we've ever played together, which we had the misfortune of watching this week."
The Boks, hopefully, will not make the same mistakes twice against the unpredictable French. Smit added: "I guess you could say it's been a bit of a ping-ping battle between us; a tightly-contest four-game series.
"They're a top team and we need to be well-prepared, which is why we have worked so hard this week."
As Six Nations champions, the Boks will not take France lightly, despite being at the back-end of an arduous 2005/06 campaign in Europe, whilst the home team will also be doing their homework on the newer faces in the Les Bleus line-up. (The likes of hooker Dimitri Szarzewski, flanker Thierry Dusautoir, fullback Julien Laharrague are not that well-known in SA, whilst Damien Traille will make his first Test start at flyhalf.)
"When we play against New Zealand or Australia there's a certain familiarity to it," admitted the Bok skipper.
"Sure, there are small variables ahead of each match, but on the whole we're able to pick up trends and we have a general understanding of what to expect in the Tri-Nations, which we don't have against the teams playing in the European leagues.
"What we do know, however, is that they favour the tight contests, and put a big emphasis on it, which for us is a great challenge and it's why we like playing against these teams."
By Howard Kahn
