Bokke: David v Goliath battle
The Springboks have too much firepower while Jones’s Japan want to change World Cup history, says Mike Greenaway.
|||Eastbourne - There is an air of restlessness in the Springbok camp that doesn’t bode well for the Japanese today in their World Cup Pool B opener.
It could the week of peacefulness in the seaside town that has an average age of about 80 as the retirement capital of England, or it could have something to do with the old adage that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull lad”.
Well, the Boks aren’t quite dull; they are in fact charming and a public relations triumph. But prop Coenie Oosthuizen puts it: “After four weeks of fitness and training, I just want to run into someone! I am hungry for contact. We all are. We are in the starting blocks.”
Indeed they are. Oosthuizen will get his chance off the bench and he might well be able to run riot given the fire and brimstone hissing from the starting pack, epitomised by Bismarck du Plessis, who is like a rocket about to be lit on Guy Fawkes day.
Du Plessis is one of 13 players in the 2015 squad that tasted bitter disappointment in their last World Cup game, the quarter-final disaster against Australia in Wellington in 2011.
Jannie du Plessis was at tighthead, Victor Matfield was in the second row, Schalk Burger on the flank, Fourie du Preez and Morné Steyn were the halfback pairing, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen were the wings and Jean de Villiers at No 12. The fullback was Pat Lambie, while Bismarck, Willem Alberts and Francois Louw played off the bench.
Four years is a long time between World Cup campaigns but as Burger has said: “There are enough of us who have been to multiple World Cups to know how they are won and lost.
“Painful lessons have been learned just as we also know what worked to win in 2007. And that is why we have to get into a groove, settle down as a team and get our game plan on track from the very first whistle of the 2015 tournament.”
The Boks have won 86 percent of their World Cup matches to date, and only the All Blacks match that record, while Japan have won just one World Cup match in their history - against Zimbabwe in 1991.
It’s little wonder coach Eddie Jones calls it “David vs Goliath”. Jones heads a coaching staff packed with foreign know-how - former England lock Steve Borthwick and former France hooker Marc del Maso are in charge of the forwards.
Borthwick says the brave Blossoms are as excited about the match as the Boks. “We want to change history at this World Cup. No Japanese player here has ever won a World Cup game. We intend to change that,” he said.
“This is an exciting time for the sport in Japan, with the World Cup here in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020. We have the opportunity to inspire the next generation, and the next generation after that.”
Jones, who coached the Wallabies to the 2003 final against England, says his side aren’t afraid of the physical battle that awaits them.
“Everybody knows the psyche of South Africa and how they play. They’re a big team and they try and monster you,” he said.
“So to win the game we have to compete physically, and whatever ball we get we have got to move it around. Whatever ball they get we have got to chop them down.”
Line-ups
Springboks: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen.
Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kotaro Matsushima, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami. Bench: 16 Takeshi Kazu, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Harumichi Tatekawa, 23 Karne Hesketh.
Weekend Argus