South AfricaSpringbok coach Heyneke Meyer expects higher standards in Australia than his side achieved against Argentina.

Although they beat the Pumas at home and away, neither of the wins were convincing with torrential rain slowing them down in Pretoria before they got out of jail in Salta.

Meyer admitted that he was not satisfied with their two performances thus far, and added that they will have to lift their standards if they are to get the better of a competitive Wallabies outfit.

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“Although we got the results against Argentina, our standards are higher than how we performed on the field and we want to improve this weekend.

“It will require a lot of focus and hard work from everyone involved this week. Australia may have lost last weekend against New Zealand, but the week before that they drew in Sydney. We respect them as opposition and can’t afford any slip ups on Saturday.”

“It’s always tough to play away from home, but we also see it as a challenge,” said Meyer.

The Springboks were greeted with pleasant conditions when they arrived in Perth on Sunday, after three days of training in a very cold Johannesburg.

“It’s great to be here and all the players and management are excited to get down to business when we hit the training field on Monday,” Meyer said.

The Boks had three hard training sessions at Fourways High School before their departure, which saw them work hard on certain problematic areas of their game such as the scrum which was dominated by the Pumas pack.

“We trained very hard the last couple of days and a few more tough sessions are waiting for us this week,” said the Bok coach.

The Springboks face Australia at Patersons Stadium on Saturday. The honours are even between these sides in Western Australia – of the seven matches played there since 1998, each team has won three, while one ended in a draw.

The Boks’ overall record in Australia is 12 wins and one draw out of 34 matches, while the South African Super Rugby franchises also found the going tough there this season, winning only one out of their 10 matches on Australian soil.

13 Responses to The Rugby Championship: Boks out to raise the bar

  • 1

    The game this week between Bok & Oz is going to be cracker…. so many interesting matchups. If Bok big ball runners can make inroads and they can negate Hooper at the breakdown, that there can be the winning of the game.

  • 2

    1 @ Te Rangatira:
    A very balanced observation by an All Blacks supporter!

    Must say, I’ve been impressed by your comments in general…

    Good to have you on board here on Rugby-Talk.com.

  • 3

    1 @ Te Rangatira:
    I feel quite the same about the match between the All Blacks and the Argentinian Pumas.

    One thing I am particularly interested in is to see how strong the Pumas scrum is, compared to that of the All Blacks… after the Springbok scrum was so competently destroyed by the Pumas.

    Of course, a totally different referee will make a proper comparison difficult, specially if some of the Pumas angling in scrumming by their props is seen, and of course blown properly.. and indeed penalised.

    Would also like to see how the All Blacks handle their attacks against the Pumas… and possibly even dismantle a defence which was rather solid against the Springboks.

    I hope the Pumas play a positive game against the All Blacks and do not revert to negative, spoiling tactics.

    I still also recon the All Blacks will easily dispatch the Pumas!

  • 4

    @ grootblousmile:
    Thanks for the kind words… I was happy for the Pumas in as much that they put two competitive games together on the trot…I’m a bit apprehensive about their ability to go three. The Abs will see the Pumas scrum as a real challenge
    and I expect them to be too wily and experienced to let the same thing happen to them as what befell the Bok… One thing the Pumas have shown that Oz & Sa haven’t is a short passing game amongst their forwards and if they can replicate that again they should be able to put the Ab defence under pressure, but still think it wont be enough to get past the Ab scrambling defence near their line.
    This is a huge weekend with regards the points table and a loss for the Bok in Perth and a possible win and bonus point for the Abs will lead to a mustwin the following week… Everything to play for….

  • 5

    Another burst of gobbledegook by the man? you can’t stop this music
    😉
    Or is it the translation from Afrikaans that made it sound so bad?
    Just as bad as Gunter’s English 😆

  • 6

    So HM wants the Boks to raise the barvfrom shit to meiocre?

  • 7

    @ Te Rangatira:
    4 criticism always constructive. No vitriol.Have a great day

  • 8

    @ Te Rangatira:
    4 Made much the same point to UFO.When Marcel Coetzee breaks away
    there is no one in support to “short pass”to

  • 9

    @ ryecatcher:
    Exactly, because they dont expect it and dont practice it. Maybe to many committed to the ruck or too many waiting out wide for the ball among the backs.
    Plus we need a quick 9 to support him breaking the gain line

  • 10

    @ CoachPete:
    9 Without being insulting to Marcels critics,it is nice to meet a man who
    knows the game.
    Regards

  • 11

    @ CoachPete:
    9 and the critics say that he dies with the ball.

  • 12

    If Cheika could teach Potgieter the art of offloading in one season at the Tahs, what’s wrong with our coaches?

  • 13

    @ Te Rangatira: pretty much spot on Mr Kiwi. I think though that the Boks have drawn the Arge sting and they’ll be easier to roll over this time round. But not that easy on their home soil.

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