Boks ‘must be special to beat Ireland’

IT WILL take a very special team to beat Ireland at Lansdowne Road — and that’s what South Africa want to be, according to newly appointed Springbok team manager Zola Yeye.

The Boks meet the Irish in Dublin on Saturday, keen to learn the lessons of their last visit to Lansdowne Road where they lost 17-11 in 2004.

“The last time we were here we were complacent,” Yeye said of a visit in which Bok coach Jake White infamously dismissed the Irish challenge.

“We have learnt our lessons. We know it takes something special to win here and the team needs to be focussed.

“But they (the players) are determined not to repeat the errors of the past. They’re in the right mindset,” Yeye said, adding that South Africa will go into the game as underdogs.

The Bok manager said there is certainly no talk of jetlag in the team and the conditioning is exactly what it should be.

Apart from the vital aspect of winning the test, the Boks will also be blooding a few new players — as coach Jake White looks to broaden his player base ahead of next year’s World Cup in France.

“We need a bigger pool of players for the World Cup,” Yeye said. “We’ve rested some players and taken a conscience decision to create a bigger pool.

“The new players are not guaranteed places in next year’s World Cup squad, but this is an opportunity for them to show they deserve their places. They must put their hands up and tell us that they want to be there.

“What will determine the success of this tour is that the players take the opportunities presented to them,” the Bok manager added.

Yeye’s appointment has been curiously greeted in South Africa — White and himself would not be seen to have been willing bed partners.

But the manager insisted yesterday that the Springboks are here to do a job by winning internationals.

“Jake Howard is in charge of selection; there will be input into that selection from others, but he decides at the end of the day,” added Yeye.