Habana ready for brutal collisions
Bryan Habana rates his only Test against Samoa as pretty special, but also one of the most brutal physical beltings he has experienced with the Springboks.
And he expects more of the same when South Africa face Samoa in their World Cup Pool D decider in Albany on Friday.
Four years ago, at the global showpiece in France, Habana scored four tries en route to a 59-7 victory over the Pacific islanders in the pool stages.
“It was pretty special, it is also unique scoring four tries for your country,” Habana told a press conference on Thursday.
“Those first 20 minutes against Samoa was some of the toughest Test match rugby I have ever played,” he said.
“But in that first 20 minutes I wasn’t really interested in taking any collisions after seeing their No.8 [Henry Tuilagi] running into Danie [Rossouw] and Schalk [Burger].
“I reckon tomorrow [Friday] it will be no different.
“The structure that Samoa have come into with a lot of their players playing in European leagues has seen them become a much-improved side than what they were in 2007.
“They are going to lay down a big challenge for us, not only physically, but in their structure.
“So we have to make sure we are playing our best rugby if we’re going to have any chance of success.”
Despite a few injury setbacks to key players, Samoa showed great improvement in the build-up to this year’s tournament, capped by a 32-23 victory over title contenders Australia.
Habana said the Samoans would pose a real threat to South Africa’s play-off hopes, with the Boks needing a point to ensure themselves a place in the quarterfinals.
“I think the structure that Samoa have come in to, with a lot of their players playing in the European leagues, has seen them become a much improved side to what they were in 2007,” he said.
“They are going to lay down the challenge – not only physically but in their structure as well.
“We will have to play to the best of our ability if we are going to have any chance of success.”
Habana, who equalled Jonah Lomu’s tournament record of eight tries at the last World Cup, said although the All Blacks are the team to beat, the Springboks believe they can win back-to-back Webb Ellis Cups.
The defending champions recovered after clawing their way to a narrow win over Wales in their opening game, and went on to secure convincing victories over Fiji and Namibia.
“There is definitely a belief within this team that we can go on and win this World Cup,” he said.
“The outside sources are not really that important to us, [but rather] the pressure we put on ourselves as a team and as individuals to perform,” Habana said.
“There are always going to be favourites in a tournament and I definitely think the All Blacks laid down a marker over the last couple of weeks and even prior to the tournament.
“We can only take each game we play for what it is.”
SAPA & AFP
