South Africa vs New Zealand: Springboks plan to rip our heads off despite praise, says New Zealand coach Steve Hansen

Hansen labelled his Springboks couterpart Heyneke Meyer a ‘cunning wee devil’

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen labelled Heyneke Meyer a ‘cunning wee devil’ (Getty)

Steve Hansen did not get where he is today by taking compliments from the opposition at face value, but the New Zealand coach was even more sceptical than usual in responding to the paeans of praise showered upon him by the Springbok boss Heyneke Meyer ahead of Friday’s World Cup semi-final at Twickenham. “Heyneke has just about killed us with kindness,” he remarked, “but he won’t be saying this stuff behind closed doors. The South Africans are getting ready to rip our heads off.”

It was a memorable comment, well worthy of a place alongside the former Christchurch police officer’s one-liner about the Rainbow Warrior affair before last weekend’s meeting with France.

No doubt it was delivered with a similar purpose in mind and if it has the same effect, the All Blacks will still be with, us a week on Friday, 80 minutes away from the first successful title defence in the tournament’s history.

“It’s a tactic,” Hansen continued, reflecting further on Meyer’s public homage to a team he described as the best ever to grace the sport. “I know he means some of it, but he’s a cunning wee devil. He’s trying to paint a picture for his own players, one that gives them the message that they’ll have to play the game of their lives to win while telling our guys that they have only to turn up to get the victory.

Richie McCaw, seen during training on Thursday, has been hailed as the ‘complete footballer’ by his coach (Getty)

“We’d be very foolish to fall into that trap. If we go lapping up all the praise, we won’t be in the right mental state to play this match.

“We’ll have to turn up with our ‘A’ game and a little bit more to get through, and this week’s preparation has already been hard, coming off the back of such a great win against France. It’s been really important to put a full stop on that game.

“There were a number of reasons why we played as well as we did last week and the main one was that it was life or death – we either won, or we went home. It’s the same this time. If you want to be in the final, you either stand up and be counted or you go home. Even worse, you play in that other game.” So much for the so-called “bronze final”, otherwise known as the third place play-off – or, more colloquially, the “spare part fixture”.

As expected, 14 of the All Blacks who started the quarter-final stay in place for the confrontation with the Boks. The odd man out is the loose-head prop Joe Moody, a Junior Commonwealth Games wrestler who came off the bench for the injured Wyatt Crockett last weekend and holds his position ahead of the more experienced Ben Franks.

“How long did it take me to think that through? There was never any debate,” Hansen said. “Ben is a very good prop who covers both sides of the scrum. Joe is a specialist. It was a no-brainer.”

Talking of which, it did not take Hansen terribly long to decide that Richie McCaw, the record-breaking New Zealand captain, merited another panegyric ahead of his 12th World Cup appearance as skipper – a milestone, to go with all the others. “When Richie started out in international rugby in 2001, he was given the ‘player of the day’ award,” the coach said. “He’s been player of the day in all the other games too. How many is it? A hundred and forty-odd? I’ve lost count.

“I was with the Crusaders when he first came to Canterbury and I felt then that he’d be a player. He antagonised the shit out of the older blokes because he kept pinching the ball off them. I had to get them to lay off him a bit. He’s become the complete footballer since then yet he wants to improve even now. He’s always looking to be better than he was yesterday, and that fits in with our ethic as a team.”

Daniel Carter, second only to McCaw in the affections of the All Black nation, was equally generous in his comments. “I feel honoured to play alongside him,” said the outside-half. “With his drive and desire, he’s an inspiration.”