Ken Borland

Munster might be missing a couple of their star players for their United Rugby Championship opener on Saturday, but Sharks attack coach Noel McNamara says Johann van Graan’s outfit will still have plenty of momentum behind them at Thomond Park.

Springboks RG Snyman and Damian de Allende will obviously not be playing, but there has been speculation that British and Irish Lions tourists Tadhg Beirne and Conor Murray are also not available. But Munster have been one of the powerhouses of Irish rugby and they have looked sharp in their pre-season matches.

“Munster are a very settled and successful side with South African coaches in Johan van Graan and JP Ferreira. They have been really consistent in the Pro14 and they are a momentum team, when they get momentum they are very difficult to stop. They will present a lot of challenges to us, but there’s a lot of excitement in our squad and we are looking forward to the challenge.

“That’s what the best players are motivated by – playing against the best. Munster have a big squad with a number of internationals in various positions and some very good youngsters coming through. Maybe Tadhg and Conor and a couple of Springboks won’t be there, but we won’t have any false sense of security. A young Munster team ran out very easy winners over Exeter in a warm-up game last weekend,” McNamara, who knows Munster well from his time as Leinster Academy Manager, said on Tuesday.

McNamara said playing in Europe offers the Sharks a great opportunity to show how adaptable they are, especially when it comes to the crucial breakdown battle.

“We will certainly have to adapt to referees in the United Rugby Championship, because it is a competition featuring different countries and different referees from those countries. So you can’t say this or that will be the way the competition will be blown. On any given day, you start from zero and you have to adapt and show good pictures to the referee.

“Munster are very strong over the ball, they have a high rate of turnovers, and against a jackal-based team like that you have to be on-point. In the Rainbow Cup they made an average of seven turnovers per game, so we’ve got to be accurate. And they have a variety of kickers available to them, a number of kicking threats, so it’s not just about shutting them down in one area,” McNamara warned.

South Africa’s forwards coach Johann van Graan said on Tuesday that he was delighted with the pack’s performance in their last outing, but added that they will need to replicate that effort in order to beat Australia in their Rugby Championship match in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Springboks dominated New Zealand up front in Dunedin on September 15, but their effort was marred by terrible goal-kicking that saw the South Africans waste 20 points and lose 21-11.

“We’ve worked hard the last few weeks and the front row gave one of their best performances and the loose forwards got stuck in as well. We can improve on the lineout, where we lost a couple of balls, but the kick-offs were good and so was the ball-retention – we had our lowest turnover rate of the whole year. Francois Louw did very well, especially on the ground, while Duane Vermeulen was good at the breakdown too.

“I’m really proud of the performance against the All Blacks, we played some of our best rugby and to have 58% territory and 52% possession against them at home is a great effort. But unfortunately we just didn’t get the points,” Van Graan told a news conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

But Van Graan warned that the Wallabies, led by Nathan Sharpe, the grand old man of Australian rugby, would be another major challenge up front.

“Australia scrummed very well against us in Perth and Nathan Sharpe is one of the best locks of all time, so their lineout is tricky and they kick to different places to put you under pressure. Playing against the number two side in the world is always a massive challenge,” Van Graan said.

Experienced Springbok tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis said that while the Alll Blacks were a daunting physical prospect in the scrums, the Wallabies were clever, strategic scrummagers.

“The Australian scrum is different. While the All Blacks view scrums in the same mould as us, as a place to exert physical dominance over the opposition, the Wallabies are much more tactical, they know what they want from certain areas of the field.

“So it’s a big challenge against them, they have a great loosehead in Benn Robinson and he scrums well with Tatafu Polota-Nau, they’re both short and stocky,” Du Plessis said.

While Du Plessis and fellow prop Tendai Mtawarira were the only members of the Dunedin pack to have more than 30 caps, the qualified doctor said that inexperience helped create a never-say-die attitude.

“There are some advantages to inexperience, because those players are hungry and will play better than someone who has played a hundred tests and has a ‘been there, done that’ attitude. As they say, a hungry dog hunts best,” Du Plessis said.

Van Graan said it was important the Springboks showed an improvement in Pretoria on Saturday and took another step in their evolution.

“You can always improve and evolve and we started with the base, it’s about finding your feet at this level. But we’ve grown a lot, there’s been a lot of progression, our ball-retention and contesting on the ground is much better. You evolve step-by-step and we hope we take another step on Saturday. Hopefully we can go from a good performance to a great winning performance,” Van Graan said.

The assistant coach also highlighted the need for better defence against a top-class attacking team like Australia.

“The Wallabies are a big threat, especially with their reverse attacking lines, Digby Ioane and Dom Shipperley in particular. We will have to improve our defence and hope our kicking game is spot on.”

Van Graan also said better decision-making on attack would be crucial.

“Some stuff in Dunedin worked well but in these close tests, which they all are in the Rugby Championship, you need special moments from special players to change games, like Bryan Habana’s try. We’re expecting quite a quick game and, against defences that are a lot better at international level, you need to convert your opportunities into points. There were quite a few chances in both Dunedin and Perth that should have been points and it’s about making better decisions,” Van Graan said.

South Africa will name their team on Wednesday, with experienced inside centre Francois Steyn unlikely to be chosen as he was still on crutches on Tuesday after rolling his ankle the previous day.

Prop Coenie Oosthuizen’s injury-enforced absence from the rest of the Test series against England is a major blow for the Springboks, forwards coach Johann van Graan said on Tuesday.

Oosthuizen has a “mildly bulging disc in his neck”, according to South Africa team doctor Craig Roberts, and will be out of action for between two and three months as the Springboks follow a conservative treatment approach.

“Coenie is still a young player and has a long career ahead of him and needs to be managed appropriately. We will follow a conservative approach with him,” Roberts said.

The 23-year-old Oosthuizen made his debut off the bench in the first Test against England in Durban, but Van Graan said he had made an impressive impact.

“He showed in the first Test what he can do and his injury is a big loss for us, especially since he can play both tighthead and loosehead,” Van Graan told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Oosthuizen is also a major threat with ball in hand, as Springbok tighthead Jannie du Plessis pointed out.

“Coenie had two brilliant scrums at tighthead but the real difference he made was in carrying the ball, it’s no secret he’s one of the best in the world at that. He always puts you on the front foot,” Du Plessis said.

While the Springbok ball-carriers dominated England and the advantage line in the second half of the first Test, Du Plessis said the forwards had placed too much pressure on scrumhalf Francois Hougaard on their own ball in the first half, by not offering him enough protection at the breakdowns.

“It’s great to play in a pack where all eight players want to do well, but we weren’t clinical enough at the breakdown. We didn’t hold on to the ball well enough and England had good stealers, especially at second or third phase where we were a bit light on cleaners.

“The longer you keep the ball, the more pressure you can exert on the opposition and we improved in the second half and played better rugby as a result,” Du Plessis said.

While the Springboks expect an even better performance from the England pack in Saturday’s second Test in Johannesburg, an area where the home team is more than likely going to be better is goalkicking. Sharpshooting flyhalf Morne Steyn struggled with the swirling wind inside the King’s Park Stadium in Durban and missed two conversions and a penalty.

“My kicking was not up to standard. The conditions were quite tough, but a kicker must be prepared for all conditions. In a place like Durban, the ball doesn’t travel as you’d like and I allowed too much for the wind. But it should be better at altitude and Ellis Park is closer to Loftus [Steyn’s home ground with the Bulls], so I should be more at home this weekend,” Steyn said.

Van Graan also praised a second debutant, lock Juandre Kruger, for a top-class all-round display.

“Juandre did really well in his first Test, he had a lot of responsibility – organising the calls on our own ball and when we contested, as well as the kick-offs. We only lost three out of 15 balls, so the lineout went well considering we had personnel from different teams,” Van Graan said.