Veteran prop Trevor Nyakane says the Springboks want to “inflict pain” on Wales in an expected bruising battle at ‘Die Begrafplaas’ in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The 54-Test-capped tighthead will pack down with Thomas du Toit either side of hooker Joseph Dweba in a powerful but new-look front row as Jacques Nienaber’s charges look to clinch the three-Test series in Bloemfontein.
Nyakane, who is familiar with Free State Stadium having represented the Cheetahs earlier in his career, says the Boks are eager to assert their dominance over the visitors this weekend.
Revealing that he and his teammates have nicknamed the Bloem venue “die begrafplaas (the graveyard)”, he told reporters: “It is not an easy field for visiting teams. After Johannesburg and Pretoria it is probably one of the hardest fields to play at.
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“It almost feels dry and as though there is not much oxygen, so it is a challenging field. That said, we know what the coaches expect of us, so although we know it is going to be tough, we want to go out there and enjoy ourselves and, if we stick to the plan, hopefully things will go well.
“If we win, you can call it whatever you want to call it – you want to say it’s a begrafnis [funeral] then let it be, but for us it’s just to go out there and perform as well as the coaches want us to.
“I’m very excited to be back here in Bloemfontein, it has been quite some time and as a team we are looking forward to it,” Nyakane added.
“Wales are a team that fight fire with fire, and we are aware of that. I think most teams try to do that when they face us.
“You can fight fire with fire but you also must be smart because you don’t want to be sent off for something ridiculous.
“We know it is going to be tough, but just as they are going to do what they do best, we will try to do the same from our side, and the only way we know how to do that is by being silent bullies. We want to inflict pain, we want to inflict our physicality on them.”
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