Victor Matfield

Francois Hougaard

Handré Pollard

With the first game of the Springboks End Of Year Tour (Castle Lager Outgoing Tour as it is also known as) looming large this weekend against the Northern Hemisphere’s SIX Nations champions, Ireland, at 19:30 SA Time on Saturday, the war of words are now surfacing.

Victor Matfield describes Paul O’Connell as his toughest lock opponent out there and says O’Connell knows how Matfield runs the lineouts.

From the Irish side, Ireland’s scrumhalf, Conor Murray, believes the Springboks are better than in previous years and is weary of the threat Handré Pollard and Francois Hougaard presents on the weekend.

Victor Matfield on Paul O’Connell:

According to rugby365 Victor Matfield has stated his admiration for Irish captain and lock Paul O’Connell who he believes has an insight into how he runs the line-out.

Matfield has long been regarded as the line-out maestro of both the Springboks and of world Rugby, however the veteran feels that O’Connell may have picked up some South African-based tips and tricks from current Western Province Director of Rugby and former Ireland forwards coach, Gert Smal.

“I think Paul O’Connell is a fantastic player, I have said it before, I think he is probably the best players I have played against in my career,” Matfield said from Dublin

“He is also a student of the line-out, you can see that he puts in a lot of hours analysing and preparing, getting his whole unit ready for the weekend.

“It is always tough going up against him.

Part of O’Connell’s analysis comes thanks to Smal who Matfield believes taught the Irish skipper how he thinks at line-out time.

“I also think when Gert was here, he gave a lot of insight into how I think about the line-outs to Paul, so that makes it more difficult.

Although the additional understanding of Matfield’s game is set to make the challenge greater, the Bok veteran is still looking forward to going up against his nemesis at the helm of the Irish pack.

“It is always a great battle against him and he has some great jumpers with him in that unit, we know it is going to be very tough and we will have to be accurate in what we do because they will definitely put pressure on us at line-out time.”

Matfield has said his team are looking to be perfect against the Irish at the scrum and line-out’ the hosts have impressed at set-piece time with a 100 percent record with their scrums.

“I think we have very high standards for ourselves when it comes to set-pieces, we felt after the Championship that we were close but we were not there yet – or exactly where we want to be,” Matfield continued

“It was good to have these two weeks and hopefully we can take it onto the field and be very accurate in whatever we do.

Pollard & Hougaard:

Irish scrumhalf Conor Murray has said that the Springboks present a great danger when Francois Hougaard and Handre Pollard are at the helm as they prepare to face of on Saturday in Dublin.

Talking from the Irish camp, where it was revealed his own halfback partner Johnny Sexton should be fit to play, Murray revealed that the Irish had been doing their homework on the Bok players.

The introduction of guys like the young prodigy that is Pollard and the nippy Hougaard to the South African team has made the Irish sit up in their seats.

“The Springboks have improved over the last year definitely,” the scrumhalf said.

“Along with the traditional strengths of the South African team, big strong physical men, really powerful up front, I think they are a lot more expansive – especially with Pollard at No.10.”

Murray expects the Springboks to run with the ball game far more than they used to and the Munster man expects the Boks to come at them with some depth.

“I think they are more willing to run from deep and have a higher likelihood to try high-risk plays,” he added.

“It brings another edge to their game and they are a better team than when we played them a couple of years ago.”

Murray, along with his Irish team mates, clearly had one eye on the recent Rugby Championship where the Springboks were able to topple the mighty All Blacks and put an end to their record winning streak.

“During the Rugby Championship they definitely impressed, we have done a lot of work looking at their players and their strengths so that is our focus.

“These three weeks ahead this is a huge game for us starting off, so that is where our focus is for the moment.”

Another player that has impressed Murray, or at least garnered some attention, is his opposite number Hougaard, who is inline to start against Ireland should Ruan Pienaar not be passed fit.

“Hougaard has played quite a bit at No.9 and he is an explosive players, he played on the wing against us a couple of years ago because he has got that natural speed,” he continued.

“He ran the lads [the Springboks] quite well over the Championship and when he did get his chance I think he took it.

“He is a dangerous runner, he brings forwards into play nicely off him and he is a constant threat himself.