This past Saturday was squeaky bum time to the max – Heyneke Meyer’s final whistle celebration basically summing up how most of us felt once our semi-final spot was secured.

We then turned our attention to hoping the French could muster together another one of those epic ‘against all odds’ victories over old foes New Zealand. It wasn’t to be, the All Blacks so clinical in dispatching Les Bleu that Sunday was spent hungover and worried about our chances this weekend.

All hope is not lost of course, we have beaten the Kiwis before and on our day we’re as good as anyone. It seems that the Rand Daily Mail are on board as well, their take on the semi-final clash as follows:

Think 1995. We were rank underdogs, there was a winger called Jonah Lomu who had just run over Michael Catt like he was a discarded barbie doll on the M1 South.

But remember this: Lomu did not score a try against the Springboks. EVER. Julian Savea, the man who ran rings around the French, has NEVER scored a try against the Springboks. We know how to make a hard man humble and you can bet we will do everything in our power to give Savea the Lomu treatment.

As for the underdog tag, we love it, we thrive on it, we grow our mojo in its petri dish.

What the All Blacks don’t want is to be tackled and driven behind the gain line. They don’t want untidy ball, they don’t want a team that gets in their face. They thrive in space and if there’s one thing this Springbok team has done at this world cup, it is to shut down the space for opposing teams to attack with width.

What the All Blacks hate is grinding, tackle after tackle, breakdown after breakdown as a rush defence shuts down your passing options. They want to play pretty rugby. We have to make them play ugly rugby.

All the pressure is on the All Blacks, who are out-and-out favourites to win. Which is where we want to be.

It’s not going to be easy, but if there is one team at this world cup that has the game to beat the All Blacks, its the Springboks. And here’s another thing, they’ve done it before, they nearly did it earlier this year – they BELIEVE they can do it.

It’s that crazy thing – the better our opposition, the better we play. Game on!

‘We grow our mojo in its petri dish’, that might be my favourite line of the day.

MenStuff have taken a similarly optimistic approach to our chances this weekend, getting in a few digs at the French and hyping our defensive capabilities:

The French were terrible. With respect to some individuals, the lack of enthusiasm of the team was shocking. Losing their own lineouts, missing tackles, and not even attempting to regain possession from kick-offs, the French looked like they had half a foot out the door from the get-go. The All Blacks were great, but the apathetic French performance made the All Blacks look better than they were.

The Springboks won’t offer that type of open-door to the All Blacks. The defence will be relentless, the attack will be more structured, and the emotion and incentive will be there too…

There’s no illusions that the All Blacks have the greater attacking prowess and diverse tactical game, but they have been missing out on the things that help galvanise a team – the battle-hardened growth throughout the tournament, the ability to grind out difficult wins, and the cool temperament that’s been pushed to the limit – and that’s something the Springboks have earned in abundance in the past five weeks.

Make sure the fridge is well stocked ahead of kickoff, either way the nectar will flow.

Something I haven’t seen mentioned all that much is the prevalence of Schalk Burger at first receiver, either popping a pass to a ball-carrying forward or to Pollard running a deeper line. Against a team as well-drilled as the All Blacks we will need to show far greater creativity in order to bust over the advantage line – even Damian de Allende requires a little space to sit the opposition on their arses.

Five days and counting – if anyone has any fingernails going spare feel free to ship them my way.

[sources:rdm&menstuff]