Jack in the Boks

South Africa set to spring on Australia

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Posted: Wednesday October 27, 1999 01:01 PM

Joost Van Der Westhuizen will try to help South Africa get past Australia and into the finals. AP

LONDON (AP) -- Written off before the tournament and again during the group phase, South Africa stormed back into World Cup contention after Sunday's 44-21 win over England in Paris.

The defending titlist has never lost a World Cup game, winning all six en route to lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy on debut in 1995, and adding four more in '99.

But the Springboks face a major obstacle in Saturday's semifinal at Twickenham against southern hemisphere rival Australia.

The winner advances to the final, most likely against the All Blacks who're expected to defeat France in Sunday's other semifinal, and the loser goes into a third-place playoff.

Springboks coach Nick Mallett says the critics have done his team a massive favor.

"We were written off by most people because of our poor performances against Uruguay and Spain prior to the England game," he said of Sunday's quarterfinal.

"That made us very focused for that match. And it's the same this week except now there's a real fear, having got this far, that we don't want to miss out on playing in the final and defending our cup."

Mallett guided South Africa to a world-record equaling 17 successive test wins until a 13-7 loss to England last December triggered a stretch of five losses in six tests.

After riding a wave of success, Mallett came under heavy criticism as the 'Boks placed last in the Tri Nations series.

Their best result was a dour 10-9 win over Australia at Cape Town in August, following two losses to champions New Zealand and a 32-6 loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane.

But Mallett said it was a depleted Springboks team that was beaten and the return of key players to bolster a dominating tight five was a major boost to South Africa's chances.

"Our forwards were underestimated," he said. "Our front five this year haven't been bettered."

"What perhaps was lacking was having a scrum-half like Joost Van der Westhuizen or a fly-half of the caliber of Jannie De Beer and a center like Pieter Muller.

"We were missing those guys in the Tri-Nations but we're not missing them now. So we're a much better team."

Mallet said the Springboks had the edge on England in every department in the quarterfinal from set pieces to rucks and mauls but he was expecting a different approach from Australia.

"We know Australia better than England because we play against them [more often]," he said. "Along with New Zealand they have the most talented backs in the world and they will run it with the ball in hand."

De Beer kicked a world record five drop goals in his South African test record 34-point haul against England and Mallett said his flyhalf might try for another record against Australia.

"Penalties and drop goals have again become a valuable part of the game," he said. "There's no secret Jannie's always been a great kicker. He's very talented at that part of the game."

"But the key is not to allow the opposition to get anywhere near him, and for that to happen your front five have to be very dominant."

 

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