The Springboks forwards are hoping to take their line-out and scrum display against Ireland forward to Sunday’s final Rugby World Cup Pool B match against Tonga in Marseille (kick-off 9pm).
It will be a crunch match for the Boks after losing for the first time in the tournament this past weekend after going down 13-8 to the Irish in a tightly-contested battle at the Stade de France in Paris.
Despite losing, the South African pack comfortably dominated the scrums and line-outs and if the team had used their scoring chances, the result could have turned out differently.
So, their main objective for this weekend will be to convert the chances they create when they face the Tongans in what is expected to be another bone-crunching affair.
Tonga looking to ‘unsettle’ Springboks
Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids said they are preparing to face a side that will look to unsettle them and they have to be ready for the onslaught.
“Tier-two nations have shown in this World Cup that when they come up against tier-one nations, they play with a lot of passion,” the Bok forwards guru said.
“Tonga have got a lot of experienced guys within their team and also an experienced coach who has played at this level.
“Playing against us in the last pool game, they’re going to be competitive and it’s going to be important for us to prepare in the same way as we would prepare for any other team, to make sure we get a good reward out of the game.”
South Africa will be looking for the full complement of five points when they come up against Tonga.
If they do not, they leave the door open for Scotland to overtake them on the Pool B log, which could be the difference between a place in the quarter-final and bowing out.
The Scots take on Ireland in their final pool clash.
Although Davids was happy with the overall performance of the pack against the Irish, he feels there are a few things to sort out ahead of Sunday.
Areas of improvement
“We created a good platform for attack but we also had one or two scrums where we were penalised,” Davids added.
“We will look thoroughly into that and make plans to address what is needed to be on par for the next game. Overall, it was a good battle between the two packs of forwards.”
He added that the side stuck to their plans when it came to the line-outs and they reaped the rewards.
Locks Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Jean Kleyn, and RG Snyman had a field day contesting the Irish throw-ins, stealing a couple of balls.
Bar a skew line-out, the Boks had a near-perfect display on their own throw.
“I was really impressed with how the boys stuck to our plan. We know Ireland are a formidable attacking team with good rhythm and they can impose themselves on you.
“They have a lot of experience in their squad, with a very good line-out. We had to really look thoroughly into how we could put them under pressure. I was quite impressed with how the boys reacted to that.
“It was not always about making the turnover but just putting them under pressure in terms of the throwing and ground pressure. The boys stuck to that and got good rewards from it.”