News

James ready for Giteau

August 22 2008

Springbok fly-half Butch James is relishing the challenge of coming up against Australia's Matt Giteau on Saturday in a crucial Tri-Nations encounter at the Absa Stadium.

James, who has not been in the best form of his career during the Tri-Nations, said on Thursday it was great to test yourself against the best.

"I'm looking forward to it," said James.

"For me, I'm just grateful for another opportunity to go out there and show what I can do.

"You always want to judge yourself against the best and in the Tri-Nations you are playing against the two best fly-halves every weekend and it is something very exciting."

Despite admitting to being a bit out of form, James added that he did not feel his rhythm was that bad at the moment.

The Wallabies have lost their last fifteen away matches in the Tri-Nations and last won in South Africa way back in 2000, but James said he thought such a statistic could actually serve as extra motivation for the Australians.

James said that the mood in the Bok camp was really good ahead of the crucial match but added that he was not too sure what to expect from the Aussies.

"It's difficult to analyse the Wallabies at this stage because they can change their game week in and week out and so it's hard to know what to expect," he said.

"It's just awesome to be in Durban. It's my home town, I love playing at Kings Park and I'm really just looking forward to this weekend's match."

South Africa have scored three tries in this year's Tri-Nations, but find themselves in a difficult position where they need to rack up at least eight tries in the next two games to remain in title contention.

They will need to achieve this formidable feat against one of the best defensive sides in the world, and they'll need to do so with a back-line that is still struggling for rhythm.

James said the Boks will look to improve on their own execution this weekend and that patience could be the most prized mental virtue in this colossal clash.

"We've got to be patient and put a few phases together," he said.

"Last week we were too rushed and kept trying to score off first phase. If we can be patient and cut out the errors, we should do well."

The Bath pivot has played a lot of rugby in the Guinness Premiership competition, European Challenge Cup and subsequent Tests. He could use a break and don't be surprised if the burly fly-half sits out of the end-of-year tour.

"I'm just going to go all out and try to perform in the next two Tests," said James.

"It is starting to get a bit tough, but there is only two more weeks and I need to grind it out.

"The European season starts the weekend after the Tri-Nations, but maybe I can convince my coach [at Bath] to give me some time off."