London - Wales may have come out of the pool of death with their confidence still intact even after their defeat against Australia on Saturday but a warning was sounded to them by the Springboks ahead of their quarterfinal clash at Twickenham.
AIt was after their loss to the Wallabies Welsh captain Sam Warburton insisted that they are confident that they have the beating of the Springboks, but Springbok assistant coach John McFarland flipped the script on Wales - stating that the Springboks are just as confident that they can slay the Red Dragons.
Much of the Welsh belief in their ability to overcome the Springboks will stem from their victory at the end of last year but they have taken little consideration in the Springboks dominance over them prior to that encounter in Cardiff last year which McFarland believes could also work in favour of the two-time world champions.
“We’re pretty confident we’re going to beat them – it works both ways,” said McFarland on Monday at the Springboks plush base at Pennyhill Park.
If past dominance will have any impact on Saturday’s game then McFarland believes that the Springboks have the upper hand over Warburton’s men who have struggled to score tries against them in the last three encounters which were played last year with two being played in the two match series in South Africa.
“If you analyse the game, we’ve had success against Wales. We’ve scored 11 tries against them and they’ve scored four against us,” McFarland added.
However, McFarland’s biggest concern this week will not be what has happened in the past but more what the Springboks shouldn’t do in the quarterfinals if they are to progress to the semi-finals.
McFarland says that discipline will be a key component in gaining a stranglehold on proceedings and building an innings on the scoreboard as any penalties conceded could prove fatal.
“Discipline is something we’re well aware of and penalties are going to be important.”
At the same time, the Springboks will be relying much on the confidence and momentum they were able to pick up in the pool stages especially in rising from the aftermath of their shock defeat at the hands of Japan.
McFarland believes the Springboks have now re-established their own brand of rugby and as long as they keep to it, they will be a very difficult team to beat in the tournament.
“We’ve brought our own brand of intensity, but obviously there are some clips from that game, particularly what Wales tried to do, that we will be showing our players.”
“We’re in a good space and improved our defence and set a marker in terms of physicality. It will be a tough game and it will be whoever works the hardest, dominated the collisions and takes their chances. It’s never any different in knockout rugby,” McFarland said.
IOL