Cape Town — Get out of the starting blocks quickly, and don’t give away unnecessary penalties.
That was the mantra that the Springboks need to adopt if they hope to pull a series victory over Wales in Saturday’s final Test at the Cape Town Stadium (5.05pm kickoff), according to lock Lood de Jager.
The Boks were slow to get going in both Tests in Pretoria and Bloemfontein, where they appeared to be surprised by the physicality and intensity from the visitors.
Wales were 18-3 up at halftime at Loftus Versfeld before the Boks stormed back to clinch a thrilling 32-29 win, but the South Africans weren’t as fortunate at the Free State Stadium, where a late try by Josh Adams and touchline conversion by Gareth Anscombe secured a 13-12 triumph — their first victory over the hosts in SA.
The worst moment for the Bok pack came in the closing stages in Pretoria, where a 13-man Welsh outfit scored a maul try to level the scores at 29-29. Damian Willemse slotted a match-winning penalty, but they wouldn’t want a repeat of that at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
“It’s very important in any Test match, but especially in the big games, that’s where you win or lose it — the team that physically dominates have a big chance to win the game, and that will be the case on Saturday. It’s hard to control outcomes, in terms of what happens… Two of the tries that were scored were very preventable from our side,” De Jager said during a press conference at the Arabella Hotel in Kleinmond on Wednesday.
“So, what we can control is only the intensity that we start with. That’s the big thing — we are going to go out there and just bring the intensity from the first whistle to the last, and hopefully the scoreboard will take care of itself.”
De Jager admitted that the world champions were feeling the pressure this week with the series locked at 1-1, but he was confident that they had the necessary experience to come out on top this weekend.
“For us, it’s a final basically. It’s 1-1 and the series is on the line, and I’m sure Wales are treating it the same way. We are treating this week as a final. It’s good preparation for us, with big games coming this year and next year — where you will get games like these, where you are under pressure, and where you get that final vibe throughout the week,” the 29-year-old second-rower said.
“The effort in both Tests was good. I think we can just be a bit more clinical and execute better, and have a bigger emphasis on discipline. We gave away unnecessary penalties and you put yourself under pressure — especially with kickers like theirs.
“You get yourself under scoreboard pressure and then you need to chase the game. There is always pressure when you play for the Boks, especially at home, in front of our crowd. I said to the other guys on that first Test at Loftus, with the crowd back and the people singing, I was almost more emotional than before the World Cup final.
“So, it’s hard to say where it ranks. Every single game, when you get to put on that jersey, and especially playing in front of your home crowd… There’s good and bad that comes with it — the honour that comes with it is the good thing, and the pressure that comes with it is the bad thing, depending on how you deal with it.
“We’ve had to deal with pressure because we’ve played in a World Cup final before and the British and Irish Lions decider, so hopefully that will put us in good stead for this weekend’s game.”
IOL Sport