Springboks chasing consistency between World Cups, says Handre Pollard

Springbok flyhalf general Handre Pollard says the team is looking to build a more consistent winning culture between World Cups, starting with their two-Test Incoming Series against Ireland, kicking-off at Loftus on Saturday evening (kick-off 5pm).

Despite having won the last two World Cups, the Boks have been guilty of inconsistent play between the two events in Japan and France, and Pollard admitted that the players were keen to change that going into the current cycle.

Winning both Tests against the second in the world ranked and Six Nations champs Ireland would go a long way to shaking off that tag, which is what the hosts will be eager to do over the next two weekends.

“For us, it is great what happened in the past, the two World Cups. We all enjoyed it and we celebrated it, but we want to win every Test match we play,” explained Pollard.

“To play for your country is the biggest privilege there is and I don’t think anybody in this group needs any more motivation than that.

“It has been said we have been a bit inconsistent between World Cups and we want to rectify that and be better. We aren’t unrealistic, we know we won’t win every game, but we want to be consistently very good. In terms of motivation, you don’t need much more than the Springbok jersey.”

Build up

In the build up to the first Irish Test in Pretoria, new Bok attack coach Tony Brown said he wanted to bring Pollard back to his roots and turn him into a flyhalf that hits the gainline more often, and the player himself admitted that would be a good thing.

“I actually haven’t seen that. I don’t read (the sport news) much. But it sounds good. I really enjoy Tony, he’s been a real breath of fresh air for us. We were very privileged to have Felix (Jones) in the past, he was brilliant,” said Pollard.

“But Tony thinks about the game a little bit different. He’s got experience from all over the world. So we’ve enjoyed him a lot since he’s come in. If that gets us going at the line a bit more and playing a bit more on the gainline, great. But we’ve got our plans for this weekend and we will try stick to that.”

Looking at the flyhalf battle that is set to be waged on Saturday, the experienced Pollard will be taking on the inexperienced Jack Crowley, who has stepped into the massive boots of retired Irish legend Johnny Sexton.

“Johnny was massive for them, we all know that. But Crowley has been good, he’s really stepped up. They needed someone to fill that role and he’s done that. So he’s a guy we’ve looked at this week,” said Pollard.

“He controls the game and takes the ball to the line very well. So he’s a big threat and we will try look after him as best we can.”