Jake seeks Bok improvement
2006-10-27 22:09
Liam Del Carme
Johannesburg - Young, developing rugby players are brimful of enthusiasm, but often lack insight.
Just ask Springbok coach Jake White, who expressed satisfaction with this week's training camp, but also sounded a warning that he wanted to see a big improvement next week.
Referring to the several new faces in his team, White agreed it had been a good week, but said: "It wasn't wonderful. I didn't expect it to be a wonderful week.
"We've done quite a lot, but next week I want to see more confidence in the things we're trying to accomplish. Coaches are never satisfied, because you always want everything to be 100% correct and run smoothly.
"To have a wonderful week, all the players must know exactly what's going on. Some of the young players are still hesitant, as they're still learning new running lines and call signals.
"They have, however, been taught all the various tactical moves and when they come back next week, no excuses will be accepted."
White added that only cosmetic changes could be made after the team left for overseas.
"We have to do everything right now, as there'll only be time for small adjustments when we start training in Ireland. The players must know what we're going to do tactically when conditions change."
White's deputies, Gert Smal and Allister Coetzee, are of the opinion that the Test against Ireland will pose the biggest danger to the Boks.
White didn't necessarily agree.
"I don't know if you can say one Test will be more difficult than the other. We don't know who will be in Ireland's starting line-up.
"England could perform well against the All Blacks, which will make our task a week later more difficult.
"I'm sure Ireland will select their proven combinations to play against us and let some players rest when they play Romania.
"England first play New Zealand, then Argentina and then us. I think they're going to choose a team to play against the All Blacks and the same team against us, and decide to rest some players for the Test against Argentina."
The Boks were sent home for the weekend and will end preparations next week.
- Beeld