Udine a dry run for Dublin
19 Nov 2009
The Springboks need to use the Italy Test as a dress rehearsal for next week’s tour-definer in Dublin.
Peter de Villiers spoke about winning all five tour matches, and he also said momentum would be important on a difficult trip to Europe. The Boks have lost their first three games, and will find it difficult to bounce back from a Test defeat in Toulouse where they were completely manhandled by the opposition.
It’s the opinion of Bok centre Jaque Fourie that the backlash will begin this Saturday. Fourie told keo.co.za South Africa are completely focused on beating Italy, but a win is not good enough. The Boks need to produce a convincing performance and build some momentum before meeting Ireland on 28 November.
‘We were very disappointed with our loss to France,’ Fourie told this website. ‘There were a lot of unforced errors and our scrum failed to give us good first phase possession which meant our attack couldn’t get on the front foot. There’s been plenty to work on this aspect in the past week, and I think we’ll see a better showing against Italy.
‘I don’t think some of the guys were expecting it to be this tough. The conditions play a part in Europe, so hopefully after two weeks the guys will be acclimatised. They’ll know what to expect.’
De Villiers will name his Test 22 on Thursday while Italy are likely to pick a strong scrummaging pack that includes one of the best Test tightheads in Martin Castrogiovanni.
‘Italy pride themselves on their scrum and will fancy themselves up front,’ said Fourie. ‘We certainly aren’t underestimating them. As we saw over the weekend, they gave the All Blacks some trouble.’
Fourie stressed that a clinical showing in Udine is crucial if the Boks are going to beat Ireland. Brian O’Driscoll’s men recently managed a draw with Australia, but will lift their performance for what’s being billed as a ‘rematch’
‘That’s a big one, we’re looking forward to that. They’re going to be fired up and will feel they have a point to prove after we beat the Lions earlier in the year. They played well in that draw to Australia, and we know it’s going to be an intensely physical battle.’
Introduced as a substitute in the second Test against the British & Irish Lions, Fourie scored an important try on the wing. He’s looking forward to facing O’Driscoll and the other Irish midfielders in a starting capacity. With respect to Italy, their backline is unlikely to worry South Africa.
‘Brian’s world class, and I’ve had the privilege of playing against him a couple of times. You want to measure yourself against the best players, and the Irish have two of the best centres in Gordon D’Arcy and O’Driscoll.
‘Australia are a force on attack but are struggling on defence at the moment. France aren’t bad in this area, but on attack they are quite limited, they just bash it up and don’t really look to break the line in any other way.
‘New Zealand are always exciting no matter who they play in midfield – you always know that your defence needs to be good when playing the All Blacks.’
60 Comments
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20 Nov 2009, 02:08 am
Slovenia, not Slovakia. Sorry.
20 Nov 2009, 02:38 am
#50 TheTackler:
Thats being unkind to Udine
20 Nov 2009, 03:26 am
#50 TheTackler: They were supposed to play in Florence but a Serie A football match took precedence and there was a venue change.
20 Nov 2009, 03:50 am
So if Florence is booked, isn’t there the option of playing it in a proper city somewhere along the autostrada somewhere?
Brescia? Venice? Bologna? (Pick your favourites here…)
Udine is an insignificant dorpie out way beyond the back and beyond.
It’s like a rugby test against the world champions held in Bredasdorp.
20 Nov 2009, 05:06 am
#54 TheTackler:
Well at least thats a step up from Umtata………….
20 Nov 2009, 07:24 am
#54 TheTackler:
Or one against the ABs played in Rustenburg.
20 Nov 2009, 07:33 am
#56 David:
He lives in NZ so he knows rural very well.
20 Nov 2009, 07:38 am
#56 David:
SA won another title in NZ this year.
a expat won Miss NZ.
20 Nov 2009, 07:50 am
Let’s hope the Boks DON’T use Italy as a dry run… Let’s hope they use it as nothing less than a fully-blown rugby international test match…
If they in any way take it for granted… they’re likely to have their butts exposed to their faces…
20 Nov 2009, 15:26 pm
Ummm…I thought the backlash was supposed to come against France..?…2 games later and now we’re concerned about lowly Italy…WTF…!!
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