SOUTH AFRICA VS ENGLAND South Africa faces home favourites England at Castleford Stadium today in a deciding pool match to determine if they make the semi-finals or not. The game against Ireland was a thriller and South Africa had to dig deep as they went one player down after 20 minutes when Hans du Plessis was red carded for what appeared to be reckless play. The Rhino’s digged deep and kept on attacking the Irish gain line. Good substitutions played an important role and when the players went up, they delivered stand-out performances. The game ended at 42 to South Africa, and 24 to Ireland who scored a few tries towards the end as the missing man started to count against South Africa. The announcers nominated Jean Coetzer as man of the match, and the players themselves also nominated Christo Joubert who made telling hits when it mattered the most in a game where the defensive effort carried the day. Nicholas Espin, assistant coach, has the following to say: “We are going to focus on the A defenders and take a very physical approach to the game. We know the English side is experienced, but we have a much more physical style of play, and we can also run at pace with some hard hitting backline players, something the English haven’t had to face yet in this tournament.” Test debutant Manie Loots is excited: “I am extremely excited and haven’t been as ready, physically and mentally, for a game in my life. God has given me a talent and I know He will be with the team all the way, and that gives us tremendous spiritual strength as well.” Andre Loader, one of the most experienced players in the squad, and with a big responsibility in the game to settle the boys, was upbeat: “This is a very emotional game for the players, to play in a World Cup is every players’ dream. Now it’s a reality for them. Personally I am positive, we have done the hard yards in the training sessions and now we just need to keep our composure and discipline and translate what we practised to the pitch and execute our game plan.” While the games are not televised live, a high-lights package will be on the Festival of World Cups YouTube Channel (youtube/rlfowc2013) and live scoring will on the Twitter Feeds (@FOWC2013 and @sarugbyleague). The team to face England: Allan Kasselman (Captain), Khangelani Mbekela, Jean Coetzer, Carel van Lill, Rupert Wells, Hein Olivier, Hans du Plessis, Gerhard de Wet, Andre Loader, Paul van Jaarsveld, Jean-Pierre Nel (Vice-Captain), Ian van Deventer, Christo Joubert, Shaune Bouwer, Manie Loots, Rudolf Prinsloo, Johan Harmse
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 14:08:51 +0000
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