Waiting for video of Irish pair
2004-06-16 21:53
De Jongh Borchardt & Herbert Pretorius
Cape Town - The Springbok rugby team is still waiting for a video of the new Irish centre pairing of Shane Horgan and the dangerous Brian O'Driscoll.
They've been named Ireland's centres for the second Test at Newlands on Saturday after the withdrawal of Gordon D'Arcy, who sustained a groin injury.
However, Horgan, who scored Ireland's only try in the first Test in Bloemfontein last Saturday, regularly combines with O'Driscoll in the centre for their club side, Leinster.
The Bok's backline coach, Allister Coetzee, has confirmed that the Bok squad has requested a video from Leinster. "We will definitely need it, because we don't know how Horgan will perform at centre."
"He is big and may be a danger to our defence. We will have to ensure he knows we're there to play. We don't know how he will handle Wayne Julies.
"We expect that Horgan will play the ball in the channel between Jaco van der Westhuyzen (flyhalf) and Julies (inside centre), and they will want to play the ball wide afterwards.
"They battled a bit to gain momentum in the first Test, because they played behind their pack.
"Between Jaco, Wayne and Schalk (Burger), we will have to watch Horgan closely. I'm totally confident we will be able to cut him off."
However, Coetzee repeated last week's warning that the Boks musn't concentrate too much on Horgan (it was D'Arcy then) and lose sight of O'Driscoll.
Springboks 'will be ready'
Julies acknowledged that he hasn't ever encountered such a big counterpart - Horgan is 1.93m and weighs 102kg.
"We will have to see during the Test if his presence makes a difference. Luckily big guys also fall harder."
Julies is unsure what to expect from the Brian O'Driscoll (outside centre) and Horgan combination. What he does know, is that the Irish captain is one of the most difficult centres in the world to tackle.
"It's not easy to defend against him. He has excellent skills, vision and his kicking ability also causes problems, because he can kick with either foot.
It was this ability of O'Driscoll's clever footwork that gave Horgan the opportunity to score a try in Bloemfontein. Julies declined to apologise for the mistake in the centre.
"It was a tackle that went wrong and it cost our team seven points. I won't say it was a lack of communication."
Julies says he wants to make it difficult for De Wet Barry to wear the No 12 jersey again when he returns before the Tri-Nations series.
"I want to make a big impact during the next few Tests."
Van der Westhuyzen, who played England club rugby for Leicester Tigers the past few months, has seen Horgan and O'Driscoll play together in the past, but hasn't come up against them.
"It's a position Horgan knows. If they are going to attack us in the channel, we will be ready. Wayne and I won't have difficulties defending."