Confident Springboks head for away tests

By STEPHEN NELL

Harry Viljoen's Springboks this morning boarded their plane for Perth with a swagger, confident that the recent 20-15 victory over Australia did not represent a false dawn.

South Africa will spend the next 12 days in Perth before their August 18 clash against the Wallabies and tighthead prop Cobus Visagie, who has transformed the Bok scrum into a powerful unit, is confident that they can continue from where they left off at Loftus.

"This is my third Tri-Nations and I am feeling less pressure than I did in my previous two, probably because it is the first time that we have a win under our belts before we travel overseas," said Visagie.

Indeed, it is the most favourable draw South Africa have ever had in the competition, having played the home leg first up and their opening away game at Subiaco, just outside Perth.

After that the Boks travel to Auckland for their clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park on August 25.

The match at the Subiaco Oval does not exactly represent a home game as optimists have pointed out, but it is no more than an eight-and-a-half hour flight over the ocean and, of course, filled to the brim with South African expatriates. The Boks also beat the Wallabies 14-13 at the same venue in 1998.

Visagie's confidence is further born out of the revival in the Springboks' forward play, which coincided with his return to the side and the emergence of hooking sensation Lukas van Biljon.

The lock pairing of Mark Andrews and Johan Ackermann has also added fire to the Bok belly, while captain Bob Skinstad's leadership is said to have been inspirational since he was appointed as captain in place of Andre Vos.

Yet, Visagie believes the Bok pack, that dominated its New Zealand and Australia counterparts, is operating at only a fraction of its potential and should improve with each remaining game in the Tri-Nations.

"We can play a lot better than we did in Pretoria as there were still things that didn t go our way. As a forward unit we are only at 60 to 70 per cent of where we can be," said the 27-year-old.

"I believe we will dominate, even more if the referees blow fairly in the scrums. In the lineouts we lost a little concentration at times and we want to correct that. We've got two weeks now to prepare in a positive frame of mind.

"We showed we have the potential to secure a lot of possession. It is now a matter of stringing together phases and rounding off. We have worked hard at it. I believe we have the players," said Visagie.

Yet winning a Tri-Nations game at home is one thing. Winning away requires a high level of mental resolve and performance and the only Springbok side to have managed that was Nick Mallett's team in 1998.

"The theme for our Tri-Nations is that it is a war and that there are four key battles to be fought. The idea came from (captain) Bob (Skinstad). We are warriors who have to prove ourselves in each battle," said Visagie.

- INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS (SOUTH AFRICA)