Pretoria - As far as promises go, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has never promised and not delivered to Loftus Versfeld.
Having spent almost a decade at the helm of the Bulls at Loftus and being the mastermind of their golden generation, Meyer now returns to Loftus for the third time as Springbok coach and he hopes that Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against Argentina will be the first step towards his first trophy with the national team.
Meyer knows that millions of Springboks fans are desperate for them to beat the All Blacks and also win the Rugby Championship ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Meyer is also wary not to overlook Argentina - who have never beaten the Springboks - in this afternoon’s match.
On Friday there were still over 10 000 tickets still available and Meyer has promised fans a festival of running rugby and hopefully tries galore.
“I think it is going to be a great game. I really want the public to come out and support us because it is going to be a quick game,” Meyer said.
In the past two years the Springboks have been the leading try scorers in world rugby and this year they will again aim to continue this and add the accolade of being southern hemisphere champions.
Saturday’s Test will see the return of one of the stalwarts of Loftus in former Bulls lock Bakkies Botha who last played in Pretoria in 2011.
Botha’s return to his “home” would have been complete had another Loftus legend Victor Matfield been playing but Matfield has been ruled out of Saturday’s Test because of a knee injury.
* Because of road works around the stadium, fans are urged to make use of park & ride services as well as the Gautrain. Kick-off is at 5.05pm.
Pretoria News