‘No friends’: Boks bracing for battle against All Blacks, says Le Roux

Springbok fullback Willie le Roux says the battle lines will be drawn and respect put aside when they take on the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

The rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks dates back over a century, with mutual respect and admiration from both sides always acknowledged.

And, this weekend’s match, for the grandest prize in the game, has the potential to be one for the history books — especially as history will be on the line.

South Africa and New Zealand have both won the World Cup three times, and Saturday’s final will see one of them win the Webb Ellis Cup for a record fourth occasion.

With so much riding on the result, Le Roux says the All Blacks will be regarded as the enemy when they step onto the turf this weekend.

“To face them in a World Cup final is special,” Le Roux said ahead of the crunch encounter.

“The rivalry goes back a long time. In the games that have been played against each other it’s always been a hard fight and afterwards you can see that the guys have given it their all.

“It’s just a hard battle out there; there are no friends when you are out on the field.”

Thrilling build-up

The Boks go into the final on the back of two games that lived up to the standard of a final, against France (quarter-final) and England (semi-final) respectively, but Le Roux says they are up for the challenge of playing another big game that will again demand a lot of them emotionally.

“The emotion over the last two weeks has been pretty high,” said the Bok veteran.

“But when you step off the field, when you go to bed at night and wake up the next morning, it’s on to the next job. You start all over, and it’s a new process. The high has gone now,” he added, reflecting on the win against England.

Dangerous winger

One of the players the Boks will have to keep a close eye on in the final is winger Will Jordan, just as the team of 1995 had to do when they came up against then superstar Jonah Lomu in the final at Ellis Park.

Jordan is the leading try-scorer with eight and needs one more to surpass Lomu, Julian Savea and the Boks’ Bryan Habana for the tournament record.

Le Roux, however, said there were no special plans in place to stop the New Zealand try machine.

“All 23 guys who go out there on Saturday have bought into the defensive plans, and we’ll stick to what we think is best,” he said.

“Will is an amazing all-round player, he chips and chases, he can do anything, scores from anywhere … but he’s only one man we need to look after.”