THE SPRINGBOKS' DISCIPLINE IS A MAJOR CONCERN FOR COACH HEYNEKE MEYER AHEAD OF THEIR WORLD CUP QUARTERFINAL AGAINST WALES.
Of the eight quarterfinalists the Springboks have one of the poorest discipline records, conceding 49 penalties in their four matches, with 28 of them in their own half.
Wales have given away 46 penalties in their four games, with 22 of them in their own half and are expected to be more familiar with the breakdown interpretations of English referee Wayne Barnes.
Meyer is well-aware of just how important it will be to improve in this area against a Welsh side that look to build pressure by carrying the ball at the opposition.
"They play a very disciplined type of rugby, they have no weak areas, they are very direct and use their 12 to run up and to build phases and put you under pressure with discipline.
"Discipline is going to be very important, they are a team that really wants to get going over the advantage line.
"They will get their forwards in and use their big backs as ball-runners to get over the advantage line," he said.
With wet weather expected at Twickenham on Saturday, Meyer said an immense forward battle is on the cards, with patience and execution on defence key.
"It will definitely be a forward battle, if you look at Wales they are a quality side, they don't concede tries, I think they only conceded two in their first four games.
"I am really happy with our defence at the moment because they are really going to test our defence.
"It is probably going to be wet on Saturday and they are probably more used to the wet conditions so it is going to be a very physical arm-wrestle so we have to have discipline and a 100% defensive record," he said.
The Springbok coach said that the team has complete clarity on the style of rugby they want to play, which should be well-suited to knock-out rugby.
"The one thing we have sorted out is the way we want to play, with all the experience and the guys we wanted back are now starting to hit form," he said.
Meyer revealed that if Vitcor Matfield had been fit to play he would have started on the bench with Jannie du Plessis to keep some continuity and momentum in the forward pack.
"Jannie the same as Victor would have come from the bench because of the short turnaround. Slowly but surely our pack is playing the type of rugby that I wanted from the start and we just feel that we want to keep the continuity.
"Another thing is that in the past we have lacked some experience off the bench with more experienced guys starting and then in the last 20 minutes we bring on a lot of youngsters.
"If you look at our bench now we have the likes of Jannie, Adriaan [Strauss], Ruan [Pienaar], Pat Lambie and Jan Serfontein.
"I don't believe the game is going to open up, we don't need an impact player there, we need a guy that can scrum and can get some stability there as well," he added.
