Boks will not be diverted
July 28, 2001

Springbok captain Bob Skinstad believes it is vitally important for his troops to stick to the game they have been working on for the last couple of weeks and not to get drawn into the Australian way of playing.

The Boks left Durban on Friday in a buoyant and confident mood ahead of their must-win encounter against the Wallabies at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. This game is crucial to their chances of lifting the Vodacom Tri-Nations trophy after they lost the opening match 12-3 to the All Blacks at Cape Town last weekend.

There are many who believe the Wallabies have managed to create a web of near invincibility in recent times, particularly after the manner in which they came back from losing the opening Test to defeat the British Lions in their recently completed series.

But Skinstad, while not underestimating the task ahead, believes that playing at Loftus, which he described as the 'Cathedral of South African rugby', will be to the advantage of the Springboks.

"After the All Blacks match last weekend we are expecting another extremely hard match against the Wallabies, but we will just have to look to playing our own game without being drawn into the Aussie pattern," he said.

The Bok camp reported a clean bill of health for Saturday's showdown, meaning experienced second rower Mark Andrews will start his 74th Test, with Andre Venter staying on the side of the scrum. The Free Stater will act as cover in the lock position, with Corne Krige and rookie Johann van Niekerk taking care of the loose forwards.

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