Durban - There will be a liberal sprinkling of British & Irish Lions stars in the Wales team locking horns with the Springboks at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday and, while they would like to get one up on their old foe, revenge is unlikely to be their primary motivation.
That is the opinion of Bok prop Trevor Nyakane who will be renewing acquaintances with Lions tight five members Ken Owens, Wyn Jones and Adam Beard, while in the Welsh backline there will be the belligerent Josh Adams on the wing, Liam Williams at fullback, and kingpin Dan Biggar at flyhalf.
That is more than enough Lions players who will still be smarting from their series defeat to the Boks in August ...
“Maybe some of those guys will draw some motivation from the Lions tour, I don't know and we will see on Saturday on the field,” Nyakane said. “I just think that every time two big nations like this meet, it is always going to be extremely tough, a recent Lions tour or not ...
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“Wales will bring the same energy and physicality, and go just as hard at us as they always do. Obviously a lot of the players met each other earlier this year and there is an understanding of how each of us plays and what we bring to the party, but at Test level it does not matter who you have played before it is always going to be tough as both parties will give their all for their countries.”
Nyakane, who is back in the starting line-up at his favoured position of tighthead after a few appearances on the other side of the scrum, says the Boks never need external motivation before a Test match.
“Maybe it is a motivation they will look at (the Lions series), but for us it
is only about the green and gold jersey and representing South Africa, and playing for the people at home. That is what drives us — that and the guy next to you on the field. We also play for each other,” he said.
The Welsh are missing a number of injured players, notably in the forwards — Alun Wyn Jones and Ross Moriarty were added to the injury list after last week's defeat to the All Blacks — and Nyakane was asked by a Welsh journalist if the Boks will attack the Wales scrum.
“They are missing a few players but Springbok rugby is always about aiming for set-piece dominance and physicality, and we will always try and do that, it doesn't matter who we play,” Nyakane said. “We will always try and dominate those areas and Saturday will be no exception.”
The last time the teams met was at the 2019 World Cup where the Boks ground out a 19-16 win in the semi-finals. Nyakane is expecting a similar type of contest.
“Nobody is going to run away with this game,” Nyakane said. “At this level of international rugby, you don't get that many opportunities to score tries and run the ball.
“It will be a hard, physical game for both forwards and backs.”
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IOL Sport