Springbok centre Jesse Kriel said he was excited about facing the Wallabies in their opening round of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday after an intense two-week conditioning camp.
The experienced midfielder added that the Boks are ready to return to the standard of play that has earned them immense support in South Africa and certain places abroad.
Australia, however, come off a tough series against the British & Irish Lions, where they finished strong after losing the first two Tests.
Kriel played down suggestions that Australia were more battle hardened than the Springboks and said: Everyone is entitled to their opinions about what battle hardened is. We’ll see on Saturday whether we’re battle-hardened enough, but for us it’s about how you pitch up at training every day, and we are excited about the match.
“We have very high standards in this environment and there is also good competition in each position, so we spent the last few weeks working on our conditioning and match detail, and we are confident about our level of our preparation going into the game,” said Kriel.
“Personally, I feel very confident about the level of preparation we’ve put in and I’m excited for the weekend.
“Representing South Africa is a huge opportunity, and no one here takes it lightly. We’ll be ready for the challenge.
Kriel will link up with Andre Esterhuizen in the midfield this week as Damian de Allende returns to full recovery from a niggle, and the star outside centre was thrilled about the prospect.
“It’s no secret that Andre is devastating with the ball in hand, and he also has a great understanding of the game,” said Kriel. “It’s been great to see how he and Damian have been working together and trying to help one another become better. He’s a great guy to get us moving forward and trying to get us on the front foot.”
“I’ve played with Andre quite a bit, including against Australia, so I’m excited for him to show what he can do.”
“They are both great athletes with excellent skill sets,” said Kriel. “They showed in the Lions series what they can do, so for us it’s about going out there, executing what we’ve trained, and embracing the challenge.”
