The Springboks are expecting a “brutal” battle against Tonga in their final Rugby World Cup pool match at the Stade de Marseille on Sunday at 21:00, and have emphasised the importance of being accurate on attack and defence to book a place in the quarter-finals.
Springbok lock Marvin Orie said that the test inexperience of Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden at hooker does not put more pressure on their lineout: "I wouldn’t say it’s pressure. There’s specific shapes and throws that Deon can throw very (well). Marco as well. We try to find the shape and the calls that they feel the most comfortable with.
"Myself and ‘Sous’ (Franco Mostert) and RG (Snyman), together with the coach, we try to figure out what calls would be best."
Orie also expected a massive onslaught from the Pacific Islanders in the set pieces: “They have a lot of big and athletic players. Of course, it’s going to be a physical match. We saw, when we were doing our analysis, some of the collisions against Scotland and also against Ireland. There were some big collisions.
Of course, there are some big guys, Ben (Tameifuna) I think he’s close to 150 (kilogrammes) if not more. They are hard hitters as one can see, so we are expecting challenging scrums and lineouts. Many of their players have also played at a high level, so it will be a tough match.”
"It’s going to be a good challenge, but also for us, we don’t shy away, so I think it will be a good match."
