Second is of course the traditional spot of the abs for so many decades and must become so again.
ex Super Sport:
Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers wants his team to stay ahead of Australia and retain second spot on the IRB world rankings list, but he says he would be selling himself and his team short if he spoke about it as a specific aim, for the real goal is to be the best.
“If anyone ever told you that their aim was to be second, then they are in the wrong sport and should be doing something else,” said De Villiers on the eve of the Newlands Castle Lager Rugby Championship test against the third ranked team.
“Every top professional sportsman wants to be No 1, they want to be top, and that is our aim. Yes, we want to win this test, that is our immediate aim, and obviously we don’t want to drop down the rankings, but everything we do is geared towards overtaking the All Blacks and being No 1. That will be a process, but that is the aim.”
The Wallabies are aiming to beat the Boks at Newlands as a significant step in their quest to take the No 2 spot and become the main challengers to the No 1 ranked All Blacks, and Israel Folau, their freakily talented fullback, is the man many have singled out as their biggest weapon.
Joe Tomane, selected back onto the Wallaby wing for this match after missing the early part of the season through injury, singled out Folau on Thursday as the weapon that his team possesses that might separate them from the Boks. However, although he clearly has massive respect for Folau, De Villiers doesn’t agree with the view of him being a force from another planet.
“Folau is an awesome rugby player and he is one of those exciting performers who can bring new converts to the game, and he is definitely a guy who does take some stopping, but I would not describe him as unstoppable,” said De Villiers.
“Rugby is a team game and one man alone can’t win it for you. It has to be about team effort, and we aren’t singling out any specific Wallabies for special treatment.” (Duane keep an eye out for Fool ou!)
Looking ahead to what he expects to be his last test match at his home ground of Newlands, De Villiers said he was encouraged by the forecasts of dry weather for the match.
“It is the Cape so you never know what might happen on the day, but we have played a number of games in the wet recently and obviously as a backline player I would prefer the ball to be dry. The Wallabies have also expressed a preference for a dry game and an opportunity to throw the ball around a bit, so it could be an interesting contest.(Its nice and sunny right now)
“I am looking forward to the occasion as it is always nice to play on my home ground and, looking ahead, I have worked out that this will probably be my last test at Newlands. I haven’t seen the fixture list for next year, but I don’t imagine I will be playing test rugby in Cape Town again, and my family will be there to enjoy the occasion.”
A preview in a Cape Town newspaper in which the writer suggested that the Wallabies didn’t belong on the same field as the Boks piqued the interest of Australian journalists, who asked De Villiers if he shared the view. Of course, De Villiers answered that he most emphatically did not.
“We have a lot of respect for the Wallabies. They are a good team and they have been doing well since Ewen McKenzie took over as their coach. But we need to get back on the winning track after losing the last two games. The manner of those defeats was frustrating. In the Perth game we made a mistake that led to them scoring at the end, and in Wellington against the All Blacks we couldn’t get over the line in the six minutes we spent in their 22 at the end.(Jean is just too politically correct and obvioulsy cant say they were robbed blind in the Oz game and robbed in the ab game re that high tackle on Louw)
“Test matches tend to be close affairs, so we have looked at the mistakes we made and we won’t make them again. Little things are the difference between winning and losing. We did make improvements overseas. Our defensive communication took a big step forward overseas and I think everyone now is on the same page about where we are trying to go.
“The first phase play was also good in Australia and New Zealand, although we did miss a few lineouts in the one game (against the All Blacks). That was more down though to individual error than system error. I think we can definitely improve on our phase play, but that is something we have been working on really hard this week.”
De Villiers was asked if he had anything to say to newcomer Oupa Mohoje in the wake of the public and media debate over his selection. The skipper said that he didn’t have anything to say to the player in the media forum as he got on well with the player and knew how “damn hard Oupa worked to get here, players know when someone is not pulling his weight and Oupa has given his all and is a really good player and, frankly, we long ago went past the point where the colour of a person’s skin was a selection issue.” (Really!!!!I find that hard to believe given quotas are anc offical policy!!!
De Villiers said as far as the players were concerned every player in the squad deserved to be there and there was no question of it being otherwise.
Well good luck to the Boks and Jean. Let' s hope we get a fair deal for once and thump this wobbly side!!
