Van den Berg Eager To Build On Italy Win ahead Of France Showdown
Morne van den Berg admits that while the Springboks’ emphatic 66-7 victory over Italy in Turin was an excellent way to build momentum ahead of Friday’s clash against France in Paris, the team will thoroughly review their performance to identify areas for improvement this week.
The Test against France will be followed by a clash against Ireland in Dublin next Saturday, before the competition concludes with a jam-packed Finals Weekend in London from 27 to 29 November.
The Bok scrumhalf, who was named Player of the Match in the Springboks’ opening fixture of the Nations Championship Northern Series, described the accolade as special and said he would always cherish the opportunity to wear the green and gold. However, he stressed that there was still plenty of work to be done.
“There’s a lot to improve on in our game, which is actually quite exciting,” Van den Berg said after the match, in which he scored one of the Boks’ nine tries.
“We’ll study the video and see exactly where we can improve, but credit to Italy for putting us under pressure in the second half.
“They are an incredible team and nation, and we expected that, but that’s perhaps where we could have been better. They are incredible people and warriors.”
Although the Boks were disappointed with aspects of their second-half performance after taking an impressive 45-0 lead into the break, Van den Berg said securing the desired result was crucial as they look to build momentum in the inaugural competition.
“It was especially important to get our game and the things we worked on during the week right,” said Van den Berg.
“Obviously, it was important for us to build momentum going into next week’s game, so the result was very important.”
The Springboks travelled from Italy to France on Saturday evening, arriving at their base later that night as they immediately turned their attention to Friday’s showdown.
The encounter kicks off at 22:10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
