Simon Hickey: Sth Africa can be opened up if we play our cards right

Tevita Li made his try look pretty easy. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Opinion

We were a little bit disappointed with the way we went on Monday against Samoa, but the objective of that game was to come away with five points plus a bit of a points margin.

So we're happy with the result, but we know that we are going to have to be much, much better against South Africa tonight if we want to win.

We watched some of their game at the hotel before our game and had a good look at a few clips of them in the past few days. They are big boys, but if we can take them out of the game by chopping them round the legs, get some ball, use it well and play expansively, then we can open them up because we have some real firepower.

Against Samoa, there were glimpses of what we wanted to do, so we need to replicate those more often. We weren't as physical as we needed to be, but we had some really promising attacks out wide in different moments.

Tevita Li made his try look pretty easy. I wouldn't want to tackle him running straight at me. He was getting itchy feet on the bench so was keen to get out there at the same time as me.

There's plenty of versatility in this backline, so that makes the coaches' selection decisions tougher. I was really impressed with the attitude Damian McKenzie had on Monday with his willingness to run the ball. Guys like Richie Mo'unga and Jackson Garden-Bachop played well too.

Tuesday was a long day with reviews but we are getting most evenings off so the boys are chilling out at the hotel, playing table tennis or going out for a movie. We all stay at the hotel, even the Auckland boys, so that helps in getting to know everyone better. I've only been in camp for a few days, so that's important. It's a really good team culture. We're enjoying each other's company, but the good thing is that we are prepared to work hard, which is important in these short turnarounds. It's a long tournament if you don't get along!

Training has been about getting clarity and learning from the previous game. We're not getting flogged, but we're also not out there too long so we have to make the most our time at training.