News

Smith feeling the heat

August 22 2008

South Africa flanker Juan Smith, who played his 50th Test for his country at Newlands last week, agreed that there is a bit more pressure than usual building up to Saturday's Tri-Nations showdown with Australia at Absa Stadium in Durban.

With hopes of a third Tri-Nations title all but gone, South Africa will be looking to restore pride when they clash with Australia in the first of two back-to-back Tests on Saturday.

Surprise winners in Dunedin against New Zealand just over a month ago, South Africa have lost touch with their Australasian rivals after suffering defeats in Perth and Cape Town, leaving them on just five points from four matches.

New Zealand, 19-0 winners against the Springboks in Cape Town last weekend, top the competition log with 14 points from five matches.

Australia are second with nine points from three matches.

A second consecutive victory over the Boks by Australia this weekend would boost their chances of winning this year's competition and provide a huge confidence boost ahead of their trip to the Highveld next week when they again face the hosts in Johannesburg.

For South Africa to keep their title hopes alive, they need to beat Australia and score at least four tries in both matches in order to claim the bonus point from each game.

"There is definitely quite a bit more pressure this week, especially after the loss last week," Smith told Supersport.

"It is not a good experience to get no points in a game and the guys want to make up for that."

Smith is one of several South African players struggling to produce the form under the new style that he did as a matter of course when Jake White was coaching.

But it is not in the scrumming or line-out departments where South Africa are in need of a step-up this week, but at the breakdowns.

The Springboks' failure to compete efficiently at the point of contact and poor execution of basic rucking technique after the tackle has hampered the team throughout the series.

Rocky Elsom and George Smith had a field day against the Boks in Perth, stealing plenty of ball, while in Cape Town a week ago, Richie McCaw, too, showed just why he is rated the world's best openside flank when he forced a number of turnovers for his team.

To counter the Wallaby threat posed in the rucks, South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has gambled somewhat by not selecting a lock forward replacement on his bench, opting rather for two loose forwards in Joe van Niekerk and Luke Watson.

Smith will find himself in the unusual situation on Saturday of having to cover lock should either Victor Matfield or Andries Bekker leave the field for whatever reason.

If the world champions are to stand a chance of restoring their pride and winning, they're going to have to play a far smarter and more clinical game than they did a week ago.

"Every coach has his particular style and we are playing the way the coach wants us to play, but the breakdowns have been a big problem," admitted Smith.

"We run into gaps, and we have shown that we have the capability to score tries, but I feel that if we are going to win matches then we are going to have to commit players to the breakdown a lot more than we are at present.

"We have lost important possession at crucial stages of the past few games, and it has cost us.

"We just haven't been at our best at the breakdown, and are going to have to be more direct and get more numbers there."

Sharks coach John Plumtree attended a Bok training session on Tuesday to help their breakdown techniques. Smith said the input should benefit the team this Saturday.

"Plumtree has had a massive impact since joining the Sharks, and you can see that by how well the Sharks loose forwards have played this season," said Smith.

"They've been especially good on the cleanout so we've gained a lot of positive input from Plum."