Wellington - South Africa have lost their last four games to New Zealand, but Victor Matfield has called on his Springbok teammates to prove that the All Blacks “are not invincible” in Saturday’s blockbuster Rugby Championship showdown at the Westpac Stadium.
Matfield came out of retirement this year with a view to playing in the Rugby World Cup next year, but games of this magnitude are also part of the reason why he gave up a comfortable job as a TV analyst and forwards coach at the Bulls to lace up his boots once more.
And the lineout master believes the Boks can make a significant statement against New Zealand before the World Cup by pulling off a major upset today.
“It’s a big game for us, a do-or-die game for us in this Championship. We want to win this game and this Championship, but would it have an effect on the World Cup? Maybe, maybe not. But we do want to beat the All Blacks as often as possible as we could play them at the World Cup, where they will be the favourites,” Matfield said.
“There are a few guys who haven’t beaten them, so it would be great to get it into their heads that the All Blacks are not invincible. There are quite a few guys in the team who have beaten New Zealand in New Zealand.
“A guy like Handrè (Pollard) has beaten the (Kiwi) Under-20 team twice in two weeks here, so I think there is really a belief that we can go out and do well. We know it’s not going to be easy, and that it is going to be a huge task.
“But we know that if we go out there and play the way we can and play the way we want to, there will be opportunities.”
The 37-year-old will hope to be a force in the lineouts today as the All Blacks are missing their No 5 kingpin Sam Whitelock. But Matfield, an assistant coach at the Bulls, also plays a key role in guiding the youngsters around the field.
Two of his provincial teammates, flyhalf Pollard and centre Jan Serfontein, will be key figures on attack and defence, with Pollard especially carrying an enormous responsibility as the commander of the backline and first-choice goal-kicker.
Matfield is confident that his young Boks will be able to handle the pressure.
Pollard was striking the ball beautifully at goal during the captain’s practice yesterday as a relatively strong wind swirled around inside the “Cake Tin”.
“Of course you will be in their ears, and I coach both of them at the Bulls, so they call me ‘coach’ as well! But you don’t want to make the game too big – it’s just another game, focus on your own game,” Matfield said. “And do your things right and don’t worry too much about the opposition. Otherwise they will be under pressure and they will feel it the whole time.
“I see in the papers that everybody is talking about Handrè being an attacking flyhalf, and yes, he can play that way. But he was part of the team that beat New Zealand (Under-20 side) here in the wet and rain. So I think he’s a guy who can play in all conditions, and it’s great to see a guy like that getting a chance against the All Blacks.”
But Pollard can’t beat the world champions single-handedly. He needs his more experienced teammates to set the tone by winning their lineouts and scrums, get on to the right side of French referee Jerome Garces by not conceding avoidable penalties and yellow cards, and playing with conviction and purpose rather than waiting for New Zealand to make mistakes.
The Boks were tentative against the Wallabies last week and will be blown away by the dynamic All Blacks attack if they sit back on their heels.
“We have to be much better. There are certain things that we did well, but on the whole, I don’t think that we played that well,” Matfield said.
“Our set piece was good – our lineout especially – and our scrum improved, but we know that it’s going to be even more difficult this week. There were opportunities for us to attack that we didn’t use.
“What people don’t see about the All Blacks is that their basics are so good – their set piece and their defence. And when they get an opportunity, they use it. Their kicking game is better than anyone in the world – almost every time they kick, they get the ball back. So we need to have a plan for that.
“And then we also need to go out and attack. They will probably go out and score a few tries, so we have to score more than them. I don’t know what the weather is going to do exactly, but again, it’s a game of decision-making – play the weather and play the conditions as it is.”
Matfield stated that the Boks are “definitely underdogs”, but do they believe they can topple the All Blacks? Perhaps the fact that the expectations are slightly lower this week will aid their cause as the South Africans sometimes find it difficult to handle the favourites tag.
Captain Jean de Villiers’ 100th Test cap is another factor to take into account, but Matfield said the players were determined to “do something special for him” and are not over-hyping the status of the milestone.
The Boks will look to catch the All Blacks almost unawares as Matfield said that the South Africans “feel that we haven’t really been there in the whole Championship” as they have been way off last year’s form.
Coach Heyneke Meyer seems to have given them licence to have a go with ball in hand this week, and the weather gods appear to be playing along as the latest forecast indicates that while it will rain in Wellington early today, it will stop when the game kicks off at 9.35am (SA time).
Saturday Star