This is why this week is ‘easier’ for Springboks- “John Smith”
Former captain “John Smit” narrates why this week is ‘easier’ for Springboks
After defeating France 29–28 in Paris last weekend, two former Springbok great have shared their opinions on the semi-final showdown with England.
Both former captain John Smit and veteran lock Victor Matfield were cautious about the England squad despite their dismal form going into the competition, but for different reasons.
After destroying the same team in pool play, Smit led the Springboks to a 15–6 victory against England in the 2007 final. He stated that South Africa will have no shortage of desire this week.He claimed that playing England is the “easiest week” to prepare the players for, but he used England’s 2019 campaign as an example to underline the biggest risk—emotional fatigue for the Springboks.According to Smit, this is perhaps the easiest week for a captain to inspire his team, as he stated on the Official Rugby World Cup podcast.
“I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for that, but there will always be motivation.”
“I think complacency was our problem sixteen years ago, and I think that’s something to watch out for.””If you consider how England is playing their final versus New Zealand in 2019—sort of. You may receive a surprise if you are unable to recover emotionally throughout the course of the week and acknowledge that we are starting again from scratch.
Smit predicted that South Africa will win most of the games between the two teams, however the outcomes don’t support his prediction.
The two teams have played twice since the 2019 championship, splitting one victory apiece.
Only two of the past five meetings between the two teams have been won by South Africa.”If we took these two teams [South Africa and England] and they played each other ten times in the last two years, South Africa would most likely win a significant portion of those games.” However, everything is at stake,” he stated.
“This England squad, who was completely derided, has also revived their campaign out of desperation.”How desperate can our men get once more to give themselves a chance to win consecutive games? There is much to be gained.
Matfield was unambiguous in expressing his opinion that South Africa shouldn’t be taking England lightly and that a shocking outcome was totally feasible.He thought that their low-risk, straightforward strategy would enable them to compete.We are beaten by England. They are, in my opinion, the only club that plays a really cautious style of football,” he remarked.They don’t take any chances and they play in the appropriate places.
“They collect the three points, gaining some ground, and biding their time for errors by the opposition. Playing against it is challenging, particularly for those of us who enjoy taking advantage of turnovers.