Pierre Spies urges his team to perform against England after Scottish defeat
South Africa’s Pierre Spies urged his team to end their Autumn Internationals in positive fashion by beating England at Twickenham on Saturday 28 November.
Spies was rested for the 21-17 defeat against Scotland, but he admitted that the South African performance was not good enough. "As a spectator, there was nothing enjoyable about that game. Rugby is about how you pitch up on the day and I am not sure if
we were completely there (mentally). We just could not get going. They kept putting pressure on us and we could not find our feet and before we knew it we had lost a game we should never have lost," Spies told
The Star newspaper.
The forward admitted that he was keen to produce a big performance and result against England in what will be a pressure game for the South Africans, especially since they have had such a dismal tour so far.
"A victory will not balance the books for the year as far as the critics are concerned, but it will mean a lot to the players. There is a lot of motivation to play them. There always is," said Spies.
England have been in good form this November, beating Australia 35-18 and Samoa 26-13. There only loss was a respectable 26-16 defeat to New Zealand in their opening game.
Spies admitted that it would not be easy to beat England, but the forward said that he was relishing the prospect of taking on England. “We like playing against England and we like beating them. They are a good team, a tough team to beat and when we win
against them it means a lot.”
A South African win could be crucial in the build up to next year’s World Cup. Spies said, “A win would give us momentum into the new year. We certainly want to end on a high.”
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