We need to take charge - Pollard
The Springboks have vowed to make use of their opportunity to redeem themselves against Samoa.
|||Cape Town - Still smarting from their shock defeat by Japan in their tournament opener at Rugby World Cup 2015 over the weekend, the Springboks have vowed to make better use of their opportunity to redeem themselves against Samoa in Birmingham on Saturday.
According to Handre Pollard, who played off the bench against Japan but will start against Samoa, the senior players have decided to step up after the defeat that shockwaves through the sporting world.
“They said we have to take charge, we have to show leadership here, we got to show the way forward,” according to Pollard. “
We are youngsters, but we've dealt with losses in the past so we know what to do now. We have to go out and work harder than ever. “I feel we're in a good space, we had a good chat yesterday (Tuesday). The guys are really confident and really psyched up for this. We want to come back and fight for this like good South African teams do.
“I personally felt I played good rugby, we played good rugby, but we didn't finish. We didn't capitalize on all our opportunities and we really had bad discipline against Japan. We gave away a lot of penalties against a guy that can kick very well.
“It always felt like we were in control, it never felt on the field like we were going lose that game. We always felt if we keep going, keep hammering, some time it will break and then we will score a couple of tries. It didn't happen, of course, but we failed to capitalize on our opportunities.
“We have a great blend now and I think that's the thing with South African rugby: getting the blend right. We've got our physicality - always had that; got our kicking game - always had that and we've also got the running options over the last two or three years. “So for me it's just about knowing when to be physical, when to be direct and when to attack the wider channels. That's the challenge this week. We have six games left. We have to win all six if we want to be world champions,” Pollard added.
Veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis, who drops out of the match-day squad altogether for Saturday's clash, spoke of his disappointment at the Japan defeat. “It was definitely the lowest point of my whole career. Of all the games I ever played. Not because we lost, but because of the opportunities we had.
“Losing a Test match for South Africa, the first match at the World Cup, that was really, really tough for me.
“It's been hard so far, but we had a great look at what we did wrong and what we did right at some stages. I thought we played some good attacking rugby, but every time we'd get five meters from their line we just couldn't get that extra five metres. That's really disappointing and we're working hard to set it right.”
ANA