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Rugby-Boks coach intends to "tweak" side ready for World Cup

Published 12/07/2015, 06:00 am
Rugby-Boks coach intends to "tweak" side ready for World Cup

By Nick Said

CAPE TOWN, July 11 (Reuters) - South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer is not satisfied with his team yet despite a handsome 46-10 victory over a World XV on Saturday and plans more changes in the upcoming Rugby Championship.

With the World Cup in England on the horizon in September and October, the Springboks made a solid start to their preparations by scoring seven tries to one at Newlands.

With the relatively inexperienced Handre Pollard at flyhalf and a new centre pairing of Damian de Allende and rookie Jesse Kriel, Meyer showed he is not afraid to experiment.

"I am very happy with the way our back three and midfield played and we will use the Championship to tweak a little bit more," he told reporters.

"It was always going to be difficult for new combinations to settle with not much time together, but overall I think we played well.

"We obviously need to fix a few things, but I am very positive with our performance today."

They play Australia in their Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane next Saturday before taking on New Zealand and Argentina.

"Next week will be a different challenge...and we will be tested when we face Australia," Meyer added.

"We have a long flight to Brisbane and only two proper training sessions before we face Australia where we will probably have to make more than 200 tackles against the Wallabies, so have to prepare very well."

The biggest positive on Saturday for Meyer was the return of captain Jean de Villiers, who the coach rates highly as a key member of the side on and off the pitch.

After missing the entire Super Rugby season with a knee injury, De Villiers came on for the final 20 minutes and set up the fifth try.

"I was probably more nervous than Jean when he took to the field, but he soon showed how ready he was for this. The spirit he showed to get back to this level is amazing and it lifted all the guys," he said.

(Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters Messaging:; mark.meadows.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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