Springboks relishing the pressure ahead of Wales decider — Stick

The Springboks are relishing the pressure as they head into the third Test decider against Wales at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon (kick-off at 5pm).

With the series locked at one-all and a potential first ever series loss against the visitors on the cards, Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick claimed that these are the situations that the team live for.

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“We as a team strive under pressure. In the World Cup, we lost to the All Blacks and then everyone said there has never been a team that has lost a game in the group stages and gone on to win the World Cup, but we did it,” said Stick.

“Against the Lions, it was the same thing. We lost the first game and the last game was a final. As South Africans, we don’t shy away from challenges. We face them. That’s who we are by nature.

“We will take some lessons from those games, because we have done it before. If we come tomorrow (Saturday) and do everything according to the plan and play at our best, we will probably be in the same position again and win this game.”

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The territory battle is set to be an important one, with Wales captain Dan Biggar admitting earlier in the week that they try and limit their engagements with the Boks in their half when they have the ball and that is something the home side will have to overcome.

“Territory is very important at Test match level. Wales have a similar plan to what we want to achieve. They are a very tough side. If you give them opportunities, as you saw in the first half of the first game, when we made silly errors, they capitalised on them,” explained Stick.

“That’s what they live for. When they get those scraps they will punish you. They have got players who can create something if you give them opportunities. So we understand and respect that and we want to play in the right areas of the field.”

Thrilling weekend

Heading into a thrilling weekend of rugby, the Boks aren’t the only team under threat of losing a series against a Northern Hemisphere nation, with fellow Rugby Championship side’s the All Blacks, Australia and Argentina all engaged in deciders.

The All Blacks face a massive challenge in taming Ireland, the Aussies need to try and get another win over England, while Argentina will be hoping to seal their series against Scotland.

“It’s going to be a tough weekend, but if you look at the last weekend, New Zealand and Australia are in the same boat as us,” said Stick.

“For the fans, rugby is looking much healthier. There is a lot of competition. I know we as Springboks don’t enjoy losing, but you just don’t know who is going to win. For rugby in general, I enjoy that.”