Success breeds success for Boks … and barking dogs
As much as success breeds further success, it also leads to jealousy and negative attention, and Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick has likened the recent criticism of the South African team to dogs barking in the street.
It is not surprising that Stick should bristle over all the barbs aimed at the Springboks’ style of play, given that he is the attack coach and his team is hardly struggling to score tries or get their exciting back three into the game.
“We’re not going to lose focus on what we want to achieve, we’re not going to listen to the voices outside. We are the world champions and No.1 in the world so people will always be talking about us, it’s the nature of the position. When you’re winning, you expect that and we have made peace with that. It does not worry us and we won’t be influenced by the white noise.
“A dog only barks at a car when it is moving; it pees on the car that is parked. I’m still confused about all the criticism. Look at our wings, they are scoring a lot of brilliant tries, Lukhanyo Am is playing great rugby and Willie le Roux at the back is one of the best at seeing space. We’re scoring more points than the opposition, that’s why we’re winning,” Stick pointed out.
The backline coach was confident that talismanic eighthman Duane Vermeulen and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk will be available for this weekend’s clash with Australia at the Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
“Duane is doing really well at training and hopefully he’ll be ready for the first game against Australia. Faf is also coming back and the only guy who’s really still struggling with injury is Rynhardt Elstadt. We still have a lot of room for improvement, but we are on the right track. We will focus on what we do best and they [the critics] must play touch rugby or champagne rugby.
“Everyone knows what to expect from Australia and we know that they enjoy having ball-in-hand and they stretch you in terms of your fitness levels. They have a lot of x-factor, skilful players, they play very expansive and entertaining rugby, that’s in their DNA. We’re still getting closer to where we want to be, but it’s going to be a nice game,” Stick said.