Boks will be ready for World Cup, vows de Villiers

SOUTH AFRICAN coach Peter de Villiers feels his side’s dreams of retaining the World Cup next year have been boosted by their campaign in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Springboks boss was upbeat, and certainly not feeling deflated, despite seeing his men lose 20-26 to a Barbarians side full of Wallaby and All Black stars at Twickenham at the weekend.

The defeat ended a 2010 year full of turmoil on and off the field for de Villiers and his world champions, who were beaten in five of their six Tri-Nations matches, and saw dreams of a first ‘grand slam’ in 50 years disappear with a shock 17-21 loss to Scotland last month.

But an injury-hit side could also reflect on a 21-11 win over England at Twickenham, before losing out to the Barbarians on Saturday.

De Villiers is confident the future is bright for a Springbok side he expects to peak in time for the World Cup, which gets underway in September.

“As everyone has seen over the past few weeks on this tour of the Northern Hemisphere, we have many exciting young players coming through who could certainly push for a World Cup place,” De Villiers said.

“We still have 10 months to go before the start in New Zealand and so much can happen between now and then. The team is still developing and, hopefully, will improve considerably between now and then.

“Our victory over England showed what this team is capable of doing when it has to. No one connected with South African rugby has ever doubted the real quality and natural skill and strength we have.

“It’s just getting it altogether on the field and fulfilling the expectations,” De Villiers added. “Of course it is going to be tough defending our title, but it is something we will go into 100% ready.”

Juan Smith, who captained South Africa against the Barbarians in the absence of the injured John Smit and Victor Matfield, echoed his coach’s confidence for a successful 2011.

“Being in the thick of it, I can see just how the team is moving on,” the flank said. “The South African public should not be worried. We will be primed and ready come New Zealand at the end of next year.”