Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said the Springboks are determined to finish their season on a high note when they line up against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, although he stressed that they would not make the mistake of underestimating their hosts.
Should the Boks win the match, it will mark the second season in a row that they complete their year-end Castle Lager Outgoing Tour with a clean sweep of wins, and even though the sentiment in Wales is that the match should be a walk in the park for the Springboks against the 11th-ranked hosts, Stick said that was certainly not the feeling within the team and they are expecting a tough game against Wales.
"It’s been a long tour, but the most important thing for us is to make sure that we finish strongly," said Stick.
"We probably won’t be together for the next six to seven months, so we want to make the most of this opportunity."
"A lot of their younger players are getting opportunities, and they’ll also want to impress their coaches, so they’ll give everything they’ve got. Siya touched on it also earlier on that in their game against the All Blacks, at around 50 minutes, Wales were still in the game."
"So, we can’t take things for granted and underestimate them. They are a proud nation when it comes to how they play the game, and they are very physical, so it’s going to be tough."
When quizzed about the seven-one split of forwards on the replacements bench, Stick said: "f you look at the past couple of years, whenever we opted for a 7-1 split, it was always probably Grant (Williams) or Cobus (Reinach) providing cover in a few positions, especially with their pace."
"In this case, we have Cobus on the bench, who can cover wing for us as well, and we’ve always been vocal about Kwagga (Smith) as backup for us, especially with his skillset coming from a Sevens background. So, I don’t think we’ll have challenges there."
"Canan Moodie is at wing and can also play fullback for us, so we went through all those scenarios this week."
With Friday’s press gathering in Cardiff marking the last captains’ media conference for the year, Stick took the opportunity to thank South Africa’s rugby faithful for their support,
"I’d like to thank everyone back home for all the support throughout the season, and those who travelled on tour because we always felt their presence," he said.
"The players will probably go back to their teams and play for their franchises, and for the coaches, we’ll be giving back to other teams."
Stick added: "The Blitzboks are playing in Dubai this weekend, so we’ll also be supporting them, and hopefully I can go support them in Cape Town, so thanks to everyone for their support, and we hope they enjoy the festive season and the family time."