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Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen had a simple message for his team-mates ahead of today’s Rugby World Cup Pool B game against Scotland — get the penalties down and all will be well. Vermeulen preached the back to basics mantra that has been filtering through the squad ever since the loss to Japan, saying the Boks need to do the basics better, and they will be fine against the tricky Scots.

“Its been a great week for us, after our first week and the loss against Japan wasn’t great. It wasn’t a great vibe and it was really quiet in the camp,” Vermeulen said.

“After Samoa we turned it around, but we haven’t achieved anything yet, we’re still in the same position as we were before. We still need to grind it out and this is our next step. The vibe has been a lot better this week and the main focus is still how we want to play and what we want to achieve.”

Vermeulen said the side knew exactly what they needed to do Saturday to ensure they have a good chance of topping the pool. “I think the most important thing is to go back to the basics. We need to go back to the way we love to play as South Africans,” Vermeulen said.

“We need our forwards to dominate, and we need our backs to get good ball on the front foot. It’s the combination, that with the perfect kicking game and less penalties than in the previous game.”

The Boks have had a particular problem with closing out games this year, and seem to slump between the 50th and 70th minutes. Add to that the 15 penalties they gave away against Samoa and the Boks know they need to be a lot more focused this weekend.

“We had a good chat about that and we know the stats, but we haven’t been able to figure out exactly what we’re doing wrong there. Is it fatigue? Is it the lack of effort, or is it discipline?” Vermeulen said. — supersport.com