The Wales camp is smeering heuning dik around the bekke of the Springboks ahead of Sunday’s World Cup semifinal showdown in Yokohama.
Not only will the Springboks win a 4x100m relay race at the tournament, according to Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards, but they have the best defence at the showpiece as well.
On top of that, Bok wing Cheslin Kolbe is “one of the most dynamic players” he’s ever seen.
Edwards explains: “We’ve had a decent record against them [South Africa] recently, but it’s just like it was against France [in the quarterfinal], nearly all the games have been one-score games.
“We’re going to have to muscle up on the advantage line, they’ve obviously got huge men.
“Out wide, they’ve got incredible speed.
“If there were a 4x100m relay race of all the teams involved in the World Cup they’d be fastest.
“They’re going to be well-organised and they’re going to have a strong defence and strong kicking game.
“They’ve got blow torch speed on the edges.”
DANGER MAN: Cheslin Kolbe. Picture: Mark Cristino/EPA.
Of Kolbe he adds: “If you want to go and watch a game of rugby, you want to go and watch Cheslin Kolbe.
“We have to keep our eye on his, he’s one of the most dynamic players I’ve ever seen.
“I was lucky enough to play with [England World Cup 2003 hero] Jason Robinson. I was his captain at Wigan when he first came in the Wigan team.
“Kolbe’s a similar player to Jason, incredibly explosive, short and defies the fact that you have to be big to play the game of rugby.”
LIGHTNING QUICK: Bok winger Makazole Mapimpi has five tries at World Cup. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
Edwards concludes: “It’s going to be a battle royal on that advantage line. Because a lot of people think that in defence, you don’t want to miss any tackles but it’s not one of the key performance indicators of whether you are going to win a game.
“One of the biggest ones is gainline. Did you give up the gainline, did you not give up the gainline? That is the biggest indicator of whether you win or lose the game in defence
“They are very well coached, any team Rassie Erasmus coaches is fantastic defensively, probably the best defensive team in the world at the moment.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/WelshRugbyUnion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WelshRugbyUnionplayers celebrate reaching the semi-final at #RWC2019 #WALvFRA #RWC2019 #WebbEllisCup pic.twitter.com/PePtfTrofK
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup)
Wales, meanwhile, called up wing Owen Lane in place of injured flanker Josh Navidi.