Victor Matfield believes that South Africa are in good shape despite their injury problems © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

News: De Villiers fit to face Ireland

News: Kidney dismisses Springbok slump

News: Bowe: We must bully back

News: IRFU backs down over ticketing row

Head to Head: Irish aim for four in a row

News: Burger blow for Springboks

Features: Don't write off the Springboks

Players/Officials: Victor Matfield

Tournaments/Tours: South Africa tour

Teams: South Africa

South Africa skipper Victor Matfield believes that they can put their poor Tri-Nations and injury problems aside in order to make a success of their Grand Slam tour attempt.

The Springboks kick off their campaign against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday without regular captain John Smit, Schalk Burger, Juan de Jongh, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Andries Bekker, Ricky Januarie, Fourie du Preez, Heinrich Brussow, JP Pietersen, Gurthro Steenkamp, Butch James and BJ Botha.

But Matfield is sure that there is enough quality in their squad to turn around a disappointing season, one that saw them finish bottom of the Tri-Nations table.

"It is always tough when there are injuries, especially when it is as late as they have been, and we are still waiting for two guys [Jean de Villiers and Willem Alberts]," he said. "But I still think we have a great squad here.

"The Tri-Nations wasn't good and there are a lot of players who want to go out there and show what they can do and what they still have in them. Then there are some old new faces coming in like Bismarck [du Plessis] who can really make a difference and bring some energy into the team. We need to be successful on this tour."

The Springboks will have only two days in Dublin prior to Saturday's Aviva Stadium opener, having spent their preparation time in Johannesburg, but Matfield does not believe that they will take long to get used to European conditions.

"It is going to be cold, but it looks as though it will be dry in Ireland on Saturday," he said. "I think the guys are used to adapting to different conditions by now. We travel to New Zealand quite often and the conditions there are quite similar to Europe, so the guys are used to it.

"As a team we are happy with the travel arrangements, and if we weren't we would have left a week before the time. I think we've done it before with this team. We went to Perth and won that game as well, even though we only travelled through on the Wednesday, so it is not a first time for us.

"There are also no time zones, so the guys will sleep on the flight, enjoy a day off the next day and then on Friday it will be the captain's run and the guys will be focused and ready for the game."