Samoa game last chance - Boks’ Brits

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has given his senior players stern directions to stick to his game plan or face being dropped – but there seems to be a consensus that careful game management will be needed to beat a traditionally physical Samoa.

The likes of Zane Kirchner and Bismarck du Plessis were dropped from the match-day 23 for Saturday’s clash. Du Plessis spot in the starting lineup has been handed to Adriaan Strauss, who made a mark against Japan and scored a crucial late try that nearly saw the Boks home.

His spot on the bench has been taken by Schalk Brits who has plied his trade in the UK for a number of seasons. Brits impressed against Argentina last month and said he was looking forward to contributing to the Boks cause.

“It will be my first World Cup game, I’m actually so excited and stoked to be a part of it and I can’t wait for this weekend,” the 34-year-old said.

While he marks a sentimental milestone this weekend, Brits is under no illusion about the magnitude of the game.

“It’s a one off. Fortunately you can lose one game and still end up top of the group if you're lucky but now we’ve lost that game so now we don’t have that cushion. We can’t lose again and for us it’s quite important to build confidence going forward. We’ve got three games left, then hopefully it's a quarterfinal, semi-final then the final. It’s a big six games ahead if we’re good enough and play to our potential,” Brits said.

Samoa come into the game off a 25-16 win over the USA Eagles and having seen Japan topple the 2007 champions, the Pacific Islanders will fancy themselves to beat the Boks.

“Firstly they are big, quick and they can play rugby. As a group, it’s easy to play as individuals as well but we’ll see as a group how well they play.  They played well against the USA and they’re a team to be feared,” Brits said.

“Personally I haven’t played them before. I’ve done a bit of analysing with the team and by myself – they’ve got special players, plenty of talent and they’re a big side but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

After last weekend’s loss to Japan, there was a public outcry of epic proportions. Brits admitted the reaction from home had hit home and that the Boks were looking to make amends.

“It’s been quite vicious. We believe we’ve got the self-confidence, we’ve got a great squad and great coaching team and we must do what we want to do. Unfortunately there will always be criticism even if you win but this weekend we can put a lot of things right by our performance.

“We’d rather not say too much but prove it on the pitch. It’s easy to talk here and promise big things, but unfortunately the proof is in the pudding on Saturday,” Brits said.

The Springboks face Samoa on Saturday. Kickoff is at 17h45.

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