Assistant coach Joey Mongalo and skipper Thomas du Toit say South Africa A will counter Bristol Bears’ ball-in-hand attack with physicality when the teams clash on Thursday.
The SA A team were outscored four tries to two in a 28-14 defeat to Munster in Cork last week, where the South Africans’ lack of cohesion after limited preparation was evident.
However, a strong second half from Mzwandile Stick’s charges suggested that more time together on the training field will benefit them this week at Ashton Gate, where they face a weakened Bristol side that favours a possession-based gameplan.
Speaking during a SA A media conference from Bristol on Wednesday, Mongalo told reporters: “I personally haven’t seen a team that likes to keep the ball in hand as much as [Bristol] want to. Pat Lam has brought a style of play that guys want to keep the ball in hand.
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“You’ll see guys run from kickoff, you’ll see them take quick-taps, so there’s definitely going to be an attacking threat there. We are well aware that it is coming and we won’t be surprised by it.
“It’s a different challenge to Munster, which was more physical; what we’re going to get this week is wide-wide play so we’re going to have to be at our best to front up.
“If you take the last 40-odd minutes of the Munster game the score would’ve been seven-all, so that would’ve given us a foundation that we can build on technically. Those conditions were also difficult and that would’ve given us experience.”
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On how to implement a defensive structure in a short turnaround, he added: “Having worked with Swys de Bruin [at the Lions] who was very much an attack-focused coach, he taught me how to use a limited amount of time to instil some kind of defensive pride against a team that’s attack-minded.
“So that stands us in good stead having 10 days to prep … you learn how to compress your theory into something small and understandable.”
A powerful scrum proved the best weapon of the night for the SA A against Munster, and Du Toit will likely favour the set piece this week too.
“As a forwards pack we will definitely want to try and get through them first, they have a very good scrum with some good plays off mauls,” the Springbok tighthead prop said.
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“We try not to shy away from the typical way of a South African that needs to play a certain way. We definitely have variety in our attack so we’ll choose the times when to do so. We just want to be direct and physical.
“We definitely looking at variety and the typical South African way.”
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