Zeena Isaacs
13 June 2008
Johannesburg — PETER de Villiers yesterday issued a harsh warning to the Welsh team that the Springboks would not be bullied in the scrums tomorrow at Loftus Versfeld following their substandard performance in the vital set piece last week.
In a surprise move yesterday De Villiers bulked up his tight five by including Rugby World Cup stars, lineout ace Victor Matfield and prop BJ Botha in the starting lineup.
Powerful Sharks prop Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira has also been rewarded for his scintillating performances this season and will make his debut at the expense of Gurthro Steenkamp.
Mtawarira has been named in a tough front row with Botha and Smit.
With De Villiers's back line functioning optimally last week, the only change among the backs was at scrumhalf, where Ricky Januarie replaces Bolla Conradie -- this despite a classy display by Conradie last week.
In stark contrast to De Villiers, Wales coach Warren Gatland has reshuffled his team dramatically and appears to have adopted a high-risk, high-reward approach.
The inclusion of flyhalf James Hook at fullback in particular, raised a few eyebrows.
Hook's change has necessitated Jamie Roberts's move to inside centre, where Gatland believes the player would be able to provide tougher competition against the physical Springbok centre pair of Jean de Villiers and Adrian Jacobs.
As expected, Gatland named a new loose trio after the Springbok looseforward combination of flanks Luke Watson and Juan Smith and No8 Pierre Spies dominated last week.
Captain Ryan Jones moves from No8 to flank, where he will pair up with flank Jonathan Thomas. No8 is Gareth Delve.
Gatland also altered his front row with prop Gethin Jenkins joining hooker Richard Hibbard and Rhys Thomas.
De Villiers admitted his decision to recall a few experienced campaigners was a combination of expecting a more demanding challenge against Wales this week and to build for the Tri-Nations next month.
"We are expecting Wales to come out blasting because they have had time to work on their shortcomings from the first Test," said De Villiers.
"So I'm bringing the big guns onto the field.
"We also want to build with a view to the Tri-Nations."
Smit was equally wary of Wales after their humiliating 43-17 defeat last week and said the teams would be on an equal footing, since the visitors have had time to acclimatise.
Smit, however, was confident that the Boks would be able to lift their performance in the scrums significantly tomorrow and that the team would be better prepared in general , having had limited time to prepare for last week's game.
"We never want to put two scrummaging performances like that together in a row. The (bad) scrummaging last week was partly my fault because I sat out of the scrummaging session.
"But we had a few good sessions this week and I think we are better prepared. That is the one area we would like to improve on," Smit said.
Gatland stressed the importance of a solid performance at the breakdowns this week as they attempt to redeem their shattered reputations, and he hoped Hook's flair would spice up their attack.
"If you win the collisions you tend to win the game," said Gatland. "That's an area we have to improve on significantly."
Of Hook's inclusion at fullback, Gatland said: "He's such a talented footballer, he's got great footwork, we know how good he is at kicking the ball out of hand, and he gives us another goal-kicking option as well."
In-form Springbok flyhalf Butch James, in particular, will be a marked man tomorrow, as Jones admitted last week one of their biggest errors was allowing James too much time and space on attack.
The home team, however, could expect a tougher defensive Test this week given Hook's attacking flair and the visitors' determination to be more confrontational. With Reuters
SPRINGBOKS
Conrad Jantjes, Tonderai Chavhanga, Adrian Jacobs, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Luke Watson, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, John Smit (capt), Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Bolla Conradie, Frans Steyn, Percy Montgomery.
WALES
James Hook, Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper, Gareth Delve, Jonathan Thomas, Ryan Jones (capt), Alun-Wyn Jones, Ian Gough, Rhys Thomas, Richard Hibbard, Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: T Rhys Thomas, Duncan Jones, Ian Evans, Dafydd Jones, Warren Fury, Andrew Bishop, Tom James.
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