Kitshoff backs Boks in ‘most important’ game of the season

It is all set to be a massive final game of the year for the Springboks as they take on old foes England at Twickenham on Saturday in their last end-of-year tour match.

It has been a year of mixed fortunes for the Boks, having started with a brilliant series win over the British and Irish Lions, before starting the Rugby Championship in style with two impressive wins over Argentina.

However, they then travelled to Australia where they went off the boil, losing twice to the hosts and once to the All Blacks, before bouncing back with a superb victory against New Zealand to end the Rugby Champs in third place.

The ongoing UK tour then saw two powerful wins over Wales and Scotland, and rounding it out with a win against England would make it a pretty successful year for the world champions.

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“We feel this is the most important game of the season, It has been a really tough, long year but there is a lot of energy at the moment in the camp,” said Bok prop Steven Kitshoff.

“We have had two great results and a lot of good work being done during the weeks, so it is a really important game for us to keep our number one spot in the world rankings until the international season starts again next year, and to just build momentum going into the 2022 season.

“So this is a game of a lot of importance and it will just be great to go three on the trot in the UK.”

The last match between the two sides was the Boks’ impressive World Cup win in 2019, but the last time the sides met at Twickenham, England emerged with a tight 12-11 victory, so the visitors will have a good idea of what will be in store for them this weekend.

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“We know England have a lot of threats, so we just have to take it day by day building up to the weekend and hopefully produce a great Test match,” said Kitshoff.

“We always know England is a tough, physical game. They can keep the ball in hand, they have a good kicking game and a great set piece.

“So for us it is all about going through our processes in the week, making sure we tick all the right boxes and being as mentally prepared as possible going into a big physical Test match.”