The Springboks will be taking on Japan on a hybrid pitch in their end-of-year-tour opener at Wembley on Saturday.
Springbok utility forward Kwagga Smith is expecting a fast game of rugby against Japan on the hybrid Wembley pitch, when the two teams collide in their end-of-year-tour match in London on Saturday.
A number of the Japanese based Boks arrived in the English capital last week and were able to attend a rugby league match at the stadium over the weekend, which gave them some good insight into what to expect when they play on it this weekend.
It was thus a good experience for them, with Smith admitting that they were impressed by the scale of the stadium that is primarily used for football nowadays.
Fast rugby
“A few of our Japan-based players that arrived in the (last) week watched a (rugby) league game at Wembley Stadium, and the pitch looks quite fast, which could suit the Japanese players, who want to play fast rugby,” explained Smith at a Bok press conference on Monday.
“That said, it looks like a good pitch to play on, so I think it will be a good contest. The stadium is amazing, and it was a good game to watch, and also (for us) to get a feeling for the stadium and how it is over there.”
Although the Japan-based players have not played on hybrid pitches before, many in the Bok squad who have played in the United Rugby Championship and English Premiership have experienced it, and will know what to expect.
However, where Smith and Co do have a leg up is they have been together for close to a week now, getting in a few training sessions together, while the majority of the Bok squad only arrived in London and linked up together on Monday.
“A whole lot of URC teams have played on hybrid pitches and also in the Premiership, so it may be different for us (Japan-based players) this week, but that will certainly help going into the match,” said Smith.
“After the Rugby Championship, the Japan-based players had time off and then we flew to London last Tuesday, so we had a few days of training already, and we are really looking forward to the match and playing against Japan.”
More control
Bok defence coach Jerry Flannery was also part of Monday’s presser and was candid when asked about how the Boks have fared so far this season, particularly in the Rugby Championship, and where they need to improve on their end-of-year-tour.
“I thought the Rugby Championship was a brilliant spectacle. But looking and analysing how we performed, we saw a lot of high scoring games,” explained Flannery.
“So I think we have to improve our ability to try and control that and not let the game get away from you and turn into a bit of a circus show.
“You want to be able to control it and that just means our defence needs to be able to adapt to the games and we need to exert more control on a match.
“It’s not all about attacking rugby. At times you need to pull the breaks a little bit and transfer a bit of pressure onto the opposition, which I think as the tournament (Rugby Championship) progressed, we became really good at that.”
