Boks primed for wet weather battle against ‘passionate’ Wales

The Springboks are gearing up for a wet weather battle when they take on Wales, Scotland and England in their end of year tour to the UK over the next three weeks.

Prop Steven Kitshoff admitted that the inclement weather suits the team’s style, but is also a boost to the Northern Hemisphere sides who play in these conditions regularly and will be fully prepared for the challenge.

“We’ve had a couple of days where the ball was wet in our training camp in Paris. The fields were muddy, the balls a bit slippery, so we are starting to get used to the conditions,” said Kitshoff.

“Game plan wise we know what style of rugby we want to play and we got that alignment among the players and management. So I think when the ball’s a bit wetter we know we can’t chuck it around too much and we will probably go with the aerial contest and try win the ball back in that way.

“So I think the weather will suit us but it will also suit the Northern Hemisphere teams as they are 100% used to it and have been playing rugby in this for years, so we know what to expect and we do take it (the weather) into consideration when we train.”

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With poor weather conditions expected it will ultimately lead to a very forward driven battle, which the Springboks have excelled at over many years and they will be looking to roll it out in all its glory when they head into battle against Wales on Saturday.

However the Welsh have made a nuisance of themselves in recent games against the Boks, particularly at the Millennium Stadium where the last three matches there have all ended in wins for the hosts, two of them by just two points, so the visitors will have to prepare carefully for the encounter.

“The set piece in the Northern Hemisphere is going to be a big part of the game, especially if the weather is not playing along and there is a lot of ball on the ground, so there are going to be a lot of scrum opportunities,” explained Kitshoff.

“Wales has got a very good team with a tough bunch of okes that won’t go away, so they’re there, they play for 80 minutes, have a lot of passion and pride and they are really tough guys to beat physically.

“They are there in every confrontation and give their everything, so when it comes to set piece, especially scrum time we are not going to change much in our preparation and how we do things, we will just adjust to what works for us.”