‘We love playing the All Blacks’

Mike Greenaway

LONDON: There is nothing more special for a Springbok player than to play the All Blacks, and to square off against the old enemy in a Rugby World Cup semi-final is just about as good as it gets for a South African, bar beating the same foe in the final.

That is the view of Bok openside flank Francois Louw, who says the national team can’t wait to play an opponent they respect enormously, but do not fear.

The Boks have won just two of their last 10 matches against New Zealand, who flattened France 62-13 in their quarter-final in Cardiff on Saturday, but have taken heart from the fact that they beat the Kiwis at Ellis Park last year, and came within a few minutes of backing up that win at the same venue earlier this year, falling to a late Richie McCaw try.

“We watched the All Blacks demolishing France with some interest,” Louw said. “It was a great performance, but they were always going to be favourites against a troubled French side. I must admit, I thought France would put up more of a fight. I’m surprised they lost so heavily, not to take anything away from the All Blacks.”

Louw said the Boks didn’t watch the game in trepidation, but rather with growing excitement. “The All Blacks are our traditional foe, we love playing against them,” he said.

“It is the dream of every boy growing up in South Africa to score a try against the All Blacks to win the game, and we’ve all beaten the All Blacks in childhood games in our backyard.

“We always knew that we would have to beat the best to win the World Cup and it so happens that we are to cross paths with the world’s No 1 ranked team in the semi-finals.

“For us it is a derby game against our biggest rivals on the greatest stage in rugby — a sold-out Twickenham, with the stakes enormous. They desperately want to advance to the final, (but) so do we.”

Louw said that while the Boks were celebrating their 23-19 victory over Wales in their nerve-wracking quarter-final on Saturday, they were already talking about the formidable challenge that lies ahead this week.

“There are going to be a lot of nerves from both sides,” he said. “Both sides know each other’s capabilities. They won’t write us off and will be as excited about the game as we are. There is a personal rivalry between the teams that adds something extra, and I know they feel the same way.”

Louw was responsible for one of the Boks’ two serious injuries that came out of the hard-fought game against the Welsh. He accidently stood on the hand of hooker Bismarck du Plessis, who sustained a serious laceration in the first half and was off the field for 15 minutes before returning, only to be permanently replaced by Adriaan Strauss early in the second half.

Bok team doctor Craig Roberts said that he had stitched up Du Plessis’ hand, but the No 2 was in too much pain and had to come off.

“Bismarck’s hand is swollen and very sore, but the good news is that a lot of healing could happen between now and Saturday,” Roberts said. “I think what will happen is that the coach will name a team with brackets around certain players, and then make a call late in the week.”

The other player likely to be bracketed when the team is announced is lock Lood de Jager. He suffered an injured tendon in his foot and likewise will be given as much time to recover. De Jager was hurt early in the game and played through the injury, but yesterday he was in a lot of pain after swelling set in.

“Obviously we don’t want to lose either player,” Louw added. “Bismarck has come a long way this season and, overall, his record speaks for itself.

“Lood has made a huge step up in a vital position at No 5 lock, where he is responsible for calling the lineouts. He doesn’t even do that for the Cheetahs. He presents himself massively on the field.

“He would be a big loss, so would Bismarck, but we have built depth. We have solid guys in reserve. Adriaan is an amazing player, and Schalk Brits would then come on to the bench and we know what a fantastic player he can be.

“If Lood can’t make it, Pieter-Steph du Toit has already shown himself to be world-class. He is a young player, but he has the heart and the ability,” Louw said.

Schalk Burger, who was named Man of the Match, added: “That was super-tough, it is right up there with the toughest test matches I’ve ever played.

“It was extremely physical because of the way they defend,” said the 32-year-old veteran of 84 tests.

“They come off the line so quickly with their rush defence that there is no way round it — you have to go through it. It meant big collisions, and there was no shortage of them.”

“We have to give credit to Wales, they defended out of their skins and after an even first half, we started feeling scoreboard pressure in the second when we became increasingly dominant but still remained behind (at 18-19 for 15 minutes of the half).”