Who is capable of beating South Africa?

FRIDAY, NOV. 09: Boasting more than 300 international caps, the Springboks’ star-studded line up looks a shoe-in for the tag of ‘favourites’ at this year’s eagerly anticipated World Rugby Classic.

The squad not only possesses a trio of backs in De Wet Barry, Stefan Terblanche and Pieter Muller, capable of tearing any defensive line to pieces.

But they also have two of the finest back row forwards to have played for South Africa in Bobby Skinstad and AJ Venter.

And to make matters worse for opponents this year they can also call on arguably the best full back to have put on the Springbok jersey; Percy Montgomery who played on no less than 102 occasions for his country.

Team manager, Mark Wood, has given other teams an ominous warning: “We will not go down without a fight.”

Respect

Wood, who will be in charge of the Boks for the 11th year running, said: “We will set our sights right at the top.

“One of the things about being South African is that when you put on the green and gold jersey it still means everything.

“There is a respect for the jersey and I am sure it will not be difficult to get the mindset of the players right.

“When they cross the line, as a coach, you know they will be switched on.

“We have a good squad this year and some inspirational players in the shape of AJ Venter, Bobby Skinstad and Percy Montgomery.

“I’m looking at those guys to set the pace and the rest of the guys will follow.”

South Africa have not won the Classic since 2007 and this year they will kick off their campaign on Saturday night against the US Eagles.

The team will arrive on the island today and will only have a short period to get over their long haul flight and the time difference.

Wood added: “It is an awesome tournament and we love being a part of it.

“There is a still a lot of enthusiasm for it back in South Africa and people want to play in it every year.

“We want to do well this year for ourselves but also our sponsor Catlin who have been terrific to us.

“As per normal South Africa never go down without a fight.

“Someone is going to have to beat us off the park because we are not going to lose it. We owe that to ourselves.”