South African winger wary of threat out wide

Veteran South African winger Stefan Terblanche admits All Black opposite Joe Rokocoko is a handful to defend against, but says nothing could compare to marking a young Jonah Lomu.

Terblanche, 28, is seven years older than Rokocoko and has played 35 tests to the young Aucklander's five.

But one statistic rapidly coming close together is test tryscoring.

Terblanche sits fourth equal on the Springbok list with 19. Rokocoko has scorched in for 10 from five tests.

Terblanche said he would need to concentrate all night against the Fijian-born flyer, who scored twice when the All Blacks won 52-16 at Pretoria last month.

"He's an outstanding player if given space. He's strong, fast, everything a winger should have," Terblanche said.

"But I've also played against a 21-year-old Jonah Lomu and that's as hard as it gets.

"Just don't give him any space. Like all the All Blacks backs, they will take the gaps."

After following up with three tries against Australia in Sydney - the first player to register a hat-trick in the Tri-Nations - Rokocoko was compared to Lomu as a future rugby phenomenon.

The youngster did not appreciate the reference, but cannot deny his phenomenal tryscoring rate.

He is the only player in test history to get multi-try hauls in four consecutive tests.

It took him just 42 days to reach his 10-try tally and he became the youngest player to do so, at 20 years and 50 days. Former Otago back Marc Ellis scored 10 in his first six All Black tests.

Terblanche is no stranger to gigantic hauls of tries.

He crossed four times on his test debut against Ireland at Bloemfontein in 1998 and went one better with a South African record of five against Italy in Durban a year later.

Terblanche said he was jealous of the way the All Blacks were now playing, helped by their more consistent selections of late.

"It helps a lot. They get to know one another, but also individually they're good players.

"We gave them too much space in Pretoria with the speed they've got.

"The 50 points are in the history books. That's not good for us, but we'll just have to work hard and cut down on their space. They're very good if you give them a chance."

- NZPA