Proven quality

Mallett taps in on de Beer

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Posted: Thursday October 28, 1999 04:58 PM

De Beer's performance prompted Mallett to say "it was obviously prudent to go with Jannie,". AP

LONDON (Reuters) -- South Africa coach Nick Mallett kept faith with the men who beat England in the quarterfinals when he announced his team on Thursday to take on Australia in the World Cup semifinals at Twickenham.

Mallett said he had little difficulty in naming the 15 men who produced what he described as the Springboks' best performance of the year.

Jannie de Beer's record-breaking performance in Paris -- a world record of five drop goals -- means that usual first-choice flyhalf Henry Honiball is again restricted to a place on the bench for Saturday's clash.

"The way Jannie played and also the fact that Henry hasn't played for six weeks meant that it was obviously prudent to go with Jannie," said Mallett.

"I don't believe in changing your flyhalf during the game for tactical reasons but that doesn't mean Henry doesn't have a role. He covers center and flyhalf and gives us options.

"It's just one of those things that happen in life -- if he could have started against Scotland he would probably have been playing in the semifinal but we are delighted that Jannie is playing so well."

Mallett said that the team's game plan worked well against England and that it would be up to Australia to find a way round it. He said he anticipates a very tight game.

"At this stage of the tournament it's giving tries away that's going to decide it, not a piece of creativity," he said.

The coach defended his team's more defensive approach, saying that other sides, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, had improved dramatically in the past two years.

"In 1997 we were able to play quite an expansive game but last year in the Super 12 it didn't really work for our teams," he said.

"We had Dick Muir then and we played to his strengths but with Pieter Muller we play a different sort of game, we increased our defense and won the Tri Nations.

"Last year when we came over we found a remarkable improvement in the Five Nations and although you can't really judge us on our Tri Nations performances this year because of the injury absences we have really tightened the defense."

It is not only defense, but discipline that has made the Springboks so hard to beat.

Like Australia, which did not give Wales's Neil Jenkins a single kickable penalty in the second half of their quarterfinal in Cardiff last weekend, South Africa has learned to keep control.

"I was very pleased with the way we didn't moan or resort to underhand tactics when we were up against it against England, we really kept our cool," said Mallett, who celebrates his 43rd birthday on Saturday.

"With a Northern Hemisphere referee [Derek Bevan of Wales], Australia will have to be on their toes too and we are both going to have to adapt our games accordingly. But Bevan is a highly respected referee and we know him well."

Os Du Randt will win his 38th cap in the match, overtaking JKF Marais as the Springboks' most capped prop while Andre Venter will become the country's most-capped flanker with 39, although he has played another four times as a lock.

Lock Mark Andrews, already South Africa's most-capped player, takes his tally to 60 on Saturday.

South Africa

Reserves: 16-Stefan Terblanche, 17-Henry Honiball, 18-Werner Swanepoel, 19-Andre Vos, 20-Albert Van Den Berg, 21-Ollie Le Roux, 22-Chris Rossouw.

 

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