Boks weary of wounded Dragons

Springbok assistant coach, Deon Davids, insists that they will not underestimate Wales in their final Autumn Nation’s Series match in Cardiff on Saturday after the hosts suffered their 11th defeat in a row, going down 52-20 against Australia on Sunday.

While the Springboks will be hunting their third successive victory to win all their tours – a feat last achieved in 2013 – Wales, who advanced to the Rugby World Cup quarter-final just over a year ago, are under immense pressure to sway their fortunes in front of their home crowd.

“Wales showed against Australia what a gutsy team they are because although they started the match slowly, they fought back strongly before Australia pulled away in the end,” said Davids.

“Their scrums were good, and they are a physical side with good structures. They may not be in a good place (given their recent results), but we respect them as a team, and they’ve proven against us in the past that they are one of those sides that just don’t go away.”

With Bok l prop Ox Nche, forced to leave the field against England last weekend, Davids gave encouraging news regarding the cut on his leg, saying he would participate in training this week and was available for selection.

Springbok prop, Gerhard Steenkamp, agreed with Davids’ sentiments about the threat Wales posed, and said they were areas the Boks needed to improve on as well to achieve their goal of finishing the tour on a winning note.

“There are a lot of areas we can improve on, and adding to that, there is no such thing as an easy Test match,” said Steenekamp.

“So, we cannot afford to take our foot of the pedal. We need to go out there on Saturday and build on what we have done in the last two weeks.” Written by Ntsako Mkhari