Leighton Koopman
THE Springboks will look to altitude as their ally during Saturday’s opening Test against Ireland in Pretoria and hope the feared word for touring teams is still at the back of the minds of some of their opponents.
For several Irish players, the last time they visited Loftus Versfeld in the semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship (URC) with their club Leinster, things didn’t go too well for them at 1350 metres above sea level.
The Bulls outlasted them in the thin air and it could be a case of déjà vu when they take on the Boks (kick-off 5 pm) this weekend.
Yes, they are in their national set-up, but altitude does not distinguish between Test or franchise rugby, and if Ireland cannot adapt to what is asked of them on Saturday, the home side should have the advantage during the 80 minutes of rugby.
There is, though, that bit of inspiration the visitors can take out of the performance of Glasgow Warriors when the Scottish side won the URC title at Loftus, and how they turned things in their favour to beat the Bulls and the odds against them in Pretoria a few weeks ago.
For Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus, how fit you are as a team will determine how you handle the altitude, and he feels the Irish won’t be affected by it so much.
“If you are unfit, which I know Ireland won’t be, it definitely affects you,” Erasmus said this week.
“Ireland has been here for nine or 10 days. We also sent our guys home (to Cape Town) for two days and they got here Sunday again, so it affects us all.
“But it’s more to do with the kicking, it changes your distance; you can kick it further and higher, and the same with passing and kicking for touch. So you definitely run a bit more and that, together with the altitude (has an effect on players).
“Knowing Ireland – and I have coached there for two years – they are very scientific around things like that, so they will be doing their best so that the altitude does not affect them.”
South Africa’s halfback pairing of Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard, alongside fullback Willie le Roux, will have a big say in just how much running the Irish players, especially the forwards, will be doing with their respective kicking games.
De Klerk was looking sharp with his box kicks during training this week, and Pollard and Le Roux’s ability to send the ball back to opponents with some accurate territorial kicks will be important.