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Springboks team at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.
Springbok rugby takes center stage on Saturday with two big battles anticipated. The senior Boks are up first against Georgia, hoping to pit themselves against burly opposition with scrumming first and foremost on their minds in Mbombela.
Later that evening the Junior Boks will take on New Zealand in the final of the World Rugby under 20 Championship. The next generation of Boks and All Blacks will be introduced to each other on the biggest stage yet for the two teams.
Springboks Captain Siya Kolisi says they observe how their opponents play and develop a strategy.
” We don’t look for ideal conditions to play, we use any conditions that we know, and they have been scrumming against Ox and others during the week. So that’s why we’ve tried to make training as tough as possible and that’s why the coaches are able to rotate players and give them opportunities.”
The Springbok coaching staff is also waiting for the match against Georgia with heightened interest. Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says they are keen to test out a few things against an opponent that also prides themselves on their forward play.
“We take pride on how we do things when it comes to the physical side of the game and on our set pieces. From the beginning of the year, we said even though we are still number one in the world we still need to outplay ourselves and not get too comfortable.”
Meanwhile, the Junior Springboks and New Zealand will face each other in Rovigo in Italy.
It’s the biggest stage for the Junior Boks to be introduced to the All Blacks, in what will be a recurring rivalry for many of the players in years to come and coach Kevin Foote says his players are in the perfect state of calm ahead of the final.
“We are in a great routine now and very comfortable with these five-day turnarounds. Obviously, the Argentina game was later at night than what we normally play so we have given the guys a bit more time to recover and they have done really well. The whole squad is very positive, fresh and very well trained so we feel very prepared.”
The final takes place at half past eight on Saturday night.
VIDEO: A big day for the Boks and junior boks
