This Saturday is the time for the springboks to redeem themselves, they need to set aside all the excuses of their coach, the media hype about them playing last year’s rugby, the ill feelings that SARU has for the antipodes and focus on one thing only, beat the All Blacks.

Do I believe they can win, yes most definitely, but in order for that to happen we need to focus on a couple of issues.

The team.

1. Guthro Steenkamp
2. John Smit
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Flip  v d Merwe
5. Victor Matfield
6. Schalk Burger
7. Juan Smith
8. Pierre Spies
9. Francois Hougaardt
10. Morne Steyn
11. Bryan Habana
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Juan de Jongh
14. JP Pietersen
15. Gio aplon.

I think the first thing is we need to forget about who is not there, we need to focus on the strengths of the players who will actually be on the field.

A few players need to sharpen up, Matfield will have most likely had a decent rest and needs to be back to intimidating opposition line outs, Bryan Habana has his old wing partner back and become that formidable chasing duo that kept the All Blacks back three in toe last year. Jean de Villiers has no excuses this week, he is back to his preferred position and needs to prove he is still the best 12 in SA. Pierre spies will have the luxury of the most underrated player in Juan Smith next to him, and if he cannot make headway and be more physical and effective this weekend, well then he is simply not good enough.

But the most important aspect of our team this weekend lies with Francois Hougaardt and Morne Steyn. Steyn needs to be a decision maker, he needs to become the playmaker, Fourie du Preez won’t be there after the RWc anyway, so if Steyn wants to remain the number 1 Flyhalf, he will have to start showing that he is dynamic. Hougaardt will be under pressure, so a good test for him to prove whether he will just be another Scrumhalf with skill, or whether he can be the next big thing. South Africa has always had some of the best scrumhalves in world rugby, and big things are expected from our halfbacks.

Defence.

Our defence should be more solid this weekend as we have the most important parts back. Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen are experienced, know each other and are all solid on defence. Jean de Villiers will have to curb his enthusiasm to intercept and take the responsibility of organising our defences in the absence of Jacque Fourie. Gio Aplon has enough skill to take the high ball and as long as Habana and Pietersen are there to support him, this area should not be much of a concern. Their positional play at the back will be crucial.

Breakdowns.

This part of the New Zealand game plan has been noted enough and teams know what needs to be done, on defense mark the offside players of the All Blacks at the rucks and remove them legally, make sure that you impede their offloads in the tackle, don’t give away stupid penalties with hanging onto the ball, just do enough to slow it down to give your defences enough time to organise.

Attack.

With Aplon and Juan De Jongh in the back line we have creativity, so use them. They are both arguably the biggest concern for the All Black defense as they are not your typical South African back. We traditionally bash the ball up and take the contact, these two are light on their feet, has good balance, can step off either foot, are strong runners and have speed.

Don’t use the maul to drive the ball up, perhaps as a surprise once or twice in the match, but only when in the best attacking position, otherwise set up the maul as a “dummy” but give quick ball to Hougaardt as he is quick and can vary play.

Morne Steyn should employ the grubber, rather than the up and under. The All Blacks have improved their skill set at the back by employing full back skills rather than just out and out runners.

We need our support players to hunt as a pack to the breakdown, clean out the All Blacks, and get the ball out quickly. There will be times where it is OK to just retain possession even if it is slow ball, just to starve and frustrate the all Blacks from possession.

I don’t care how good these all Blacks are, they are always good and we have always found ways to beat the All Blacks. We need to be disciplined, we need to keep our cool, and play the ball and not the man.

No team can play without the ball, and the all Blacks are as vulnerable to quick opposition ball as anyone, they get as frustrated if not more than other teams when they don’t have possession for prolonged periods.

Come on South Africa, show the world how to beat these guys. You are the current world champions after all, and no excuses will be tolerated.