PERTH - South Africa, with everything to prove, and rank outsiders Uruguay, with nothing to lose, should offer some early fireworks in the opening game of pool C in Perth early tomorrow.
The Springboks, who have only lost one game in two World Cup tournaments, have arrived for this year's edition
in turmoil.
The last 12 months have seen record defeats by France, Scotland, England and New Zealand, another last place in the Tri-Nations, and endless selection shuffles by coach Rudolf Straeuli, who has tried out almost 70 players.
Off the pitch the team have been swamped by controversy, with accusations of racism, cover-ups and foul play dogging their every move.
It is no wonder that halfback Joost van der Westhuizen, the only survivor from the 1995 World Cup success that briefly papered over the racial divisions in the sport, said this week that the squad were itching to start the action.
"All this brings us much closer together," said van der Westhuizen, who will return to his 1999 role as captain in the absence of Corne Krige, who has a hamstring injury.
"There has been enough talking. We just want to get on with it now and play rugby."
With next weekend's pivotal game against England looming, South Africa have only tomorrow's match to get their game together after three successive Tri-Nations defeats.
Victory against Uruguay, a team they beat 39-3 in a bad-tempered match at the World Cup four years ago, is a foregone conclusion, but much more will be on the line than the result.
World Cup officials, who have warned that they will come down hard on foul play, will be keeping a particularly close eye on a Springbok team labelled "brutal" by England coach Clive Woodward last year.
Lock Bakkies Botha returns to the team after an eight-week ban for "attacking the eyes," while tough-tackling centre De Wet Barry has promised that there will be no let-up in the aggressive attitude.
Barry's midfield partnership with debutant Jaque Fourie, the umpteenth midfield combination Straeuli has tried, is one area where South Africa will be looking for improvement, and another is at fullback, where Werner Greeff returns for his first international of the year.
Straeuli has also handed a debut to flanker Danie Rossouw, who links up with Krige's replacement, Joe van Niekerk, and Juan Smith in an experimental back row.
The Uruguayan side contain only half-a-dozen professionals, and although they cannot live with the Springboks in terms of fitness or technique, they will certainly stand toe-to-toe with their opponents when it comes to aggression, particularly up front.
Coach Diego Ormaechea, who played against South Africa as a 40-year-old in the 1999 match, has admitted the Springboks and England are "in a different galaxy," but hopes his players will give a good account of themselves as they bid to spread the rugby gospel in their soccer-obsessed nation.
They can hardly afford to leave out any of their best players, but that is what they have been forced to do in the case of fullback and leading goalkicker Juan Menchaca, who has been named on the bench after missing the first week of preparations because of problems getting time off work.
Ormaechea insists that his team have improved since four years ago, when they beat Spain before losing to Scotland and South Africa, but the reality is that he will be happy to avoid an embarrassing scoreline.
SOUTH AFRICA Werner Greeff, Ashwin Willemse, Jaque Fourie, De Wet Barry, Thinus Delport, Louis Koen, Joost van der Westhuizen (capt), Juan Smith, Danie Rossouw, Joe van Niekerk, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Richard Bands, Danie Coetzee, Lawrence Sephaka. Res: John Smit, Faan Rautenbach, Selborne Boome, Hendro Scholtz, Neil De Kock, Derick Hougaard, Ricardo Loubscher.
URUGUAY Joaqui Pastore, Alfonso Cardoso, Diego Aguirre (capt), Martin Mendaro, Emiliano Ibarra, Sebastian Aguirre, Emiliano Caffera, Rodrigo Sanchez, Diego Lamelas, Pablo Lemoine, Juan Alzueta, Juan Carlos Bado, Nicolas Brignoni, Mercelo Guttierrez, Rodrigo Capo. Res: Eduardo Berruti, Juan Andres, Guillermo Storace, Nicolas Grille, Hernan Ponte, Bernardo Amarillo, Juan Ramon Menchaca.
- REUTERS
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PERTH - South Africa, with everything to prove, and rank outsiders Uruguay, with nothing to lose, should offer some early fireworks in the opening game of pool C in Perth early tomorrow.
The Springboks, who have only lost one game in two World Cup tournaments, have arrived for this year's edition
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