Fresh World Cup campaign for Boks
According to experienced wing JP Pietersen, the Springboks will start the Rugby World Cup with a clean slate.
|||Johannesburg - According to experienced wing JP Pietersen, the Springboks will start the Rugby World Cup with a clean slate.
Despite a poor Rugby Championship campaign, South Africa will be focussed on starting well against minnows Japan on September 19 in their quest to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy for a third time.
“We’ve had this goal for four years now since coach H [Heyneke Meyer] took over,” said Pietersen on Wednesday.
“Our goal was always to win the World Cup. When we go to the World Cup, we will have a clean slate. What happened in the Rugby Championship is in the past. It’s all about focussing on Japan and then taking it game by game. We didn’t forget what happened in the Rugby Championship, you can only learn from it to get better as a team.”
Fans can expect high-quality rugby from South Africa if the Springbok preparation goes well said the wing.
“If everything goes well you can see the best rugby South Africa has ever played in the World Cup. We’ve been training well, we have a good balance of being tactical or attacking.”
Pietersen will be donning the Springbok jersey for the third time in a World Cup, after playing a key role in 2007 when the Springboks won their second title under coach Jake White.
“In 2007 I was still young and like the other youngsters very excited. I was just keen to play for South Africa. Come 2011 I had more experience and knew what was expected of us. I think 2011 wasn’t my best year. Now in 2015, I know myself better and know how to get myself into peak condition for the World Cup.”
At 29 years old, Pietersen was determined to make it to the World Cup in top shape.
“I’ve been training very hard. I’ve been running, but skills-wise I’ve also been working hard. I’ve also been working on my footwork, getting better, getting faster. Working on rugby skills and specifically the high ball. I’m ready to go.”
Despite conditions being better-suited to Northern Hemisphere teams, Pietersen maintained the Springboks would still have a great chance at the quadrennial showpiece.
“It will be home ground advantage for the northern hemisphere teams. They know the conditions better. But we’ve been there on end of year tours, and we’ve historically done pretty well on those tours. You can never predict what will happen in the World Cup.”
ANA