John Smit says Wallabies may have mental advantage over Springboks – 2011 Rugby World Cup
Springboks' World Cup winning hooker and Captain, John Smit, has admitted that the 2011 Tri Nations champions, Wallabies could have a mental edge over the defending champions, as both teams start their preparations for their upcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup
quarter-final clash. He is quoted as saying, “I'm pretty sure they will feel they have a mental edge. The results leading into the World Cup over the last two years certainly favour them.”
Springboks will take on the Wallabies at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Sunday, October 9.
Springboks have had a relatively poor build-up to the global tournament when compared to the Wallabies. However, they have peaked at the right time in the tournament, as they finished on top of pool D with 18 points and won all four pool games.
Wallabies on the other hand had a great road to the 2011RWC but suffered a major blow as they lost a pool match against Ireland. However, Australia has won five of the last six games they have played against the Springboks. Wallabies defeated Springboks
both at home and away during the 2011 Tri Nations championship.
Smit admitted that Wallabies have outperformed the Springboks in last couple of seasons but termed Sunday’s game as a different ball game. He added, “We'll want to face the game as a fresh start in terms of where we want to go in the next three weeks and
I'm pretty sure they'll look at what they've been able to achieve before against us. It's two different mindsets I suppose.”
Smit added that the World Cup’s knockout game pressure will be different from the matches they have played in other tournaments. He added that the fact that the Sunday’s game is a do or die game adds more pressure to the teams.
The last eight squads in the RWC contains four teams each from the northern and southern hemisphere. Interestingly, all the Southern Hemisphere teams will play with each other in the quarter-finals, while all the Northern Hemisphere teams will compete among
themselves for a spot in the semi-finals of the 2011 RWC.
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