Habana, Springboks Remain Confident In 2015 World Cup Campaign
South Africa has rattled off three consecutive victories since their shocking loss to Japan in the opening round of the Rugby World Cup, giving them a great deal of confidence going into their quarter-final match against Wales.
The Springboks believe they have the ability to repeat their 2007 World Cup success. “This team has the same potential to achieve something great,” said winger Bryan Habana, who scored eight times in 2007. “After that first weekend shock loss against Japan we had to stand up and be counted.”
South Africa’s World Cup campaign began in quite possibly the worst way possible with the loss to Japan. However, the team responded well with victories over Samoa, Scotland and most recently the United States to finish out Pool B play. The Springboks, the top performer in Pool B, finished with a total of 16 points edging out Scotland who finished with 10 points.
Habana has been dominate thus far, scoring three times in 21 second-half minutes against the United States. His hat trick on Saturday lifted him to join New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu at the top of the all-time World Cup try-scorers list with 15 tries.
The winger is among eight remaining players from Jake White’s squad that lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in Paris back in 2007. The leadership from these remaining players, especially Habana, has provided much needed stability for the team, which has faced a great deal of criticism over the last several weeks.
“We have learnt quite a few lessons over the last three weeks and we can use those going into this knockout phase where you have eight of the best teams in the world competing for that little cup called Bill.” stated Habana.
The Springboks 2015 World Cup campaign certainly has a different look than it did in 2007. This year the squad has been plagued with injuries, had inconsistent play and of course the opening round loss. In 2007 South Africa had a fairly smooth run into the World Cup.
But just because there have been obstacles along the way, does not mean Habana or anyone else on the roster questions their ability to finish on top. “What happened in the past needs to stay in the past, Saturday is the only thing that counts now,” said Pat Lambie of the Springboks.
South Africa will face Wales on Saturday, who recently ended a run of 16 consecutive defeats against the Springboks back in November 2014. “We’ll have a look at what happened back in Cardiff in November and try to learn from those experiences, but we want to focus on ourselves and what we do well,” continued Lambie.
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