The saturation coverage of football in South Africa has meant that most of Peter de Villiers's barbs ahead of tomorrow's international against France in Cape Town have been lost in the volume of vuvuzelas.
The Springboks' coach raged against Alan Lewis, who refereed last week's victory over Wales in Cardiff, for the way he refereed the scrum, claimed that too many of the Super 14 coaches in South Africa were self-centred and said the Springboks who left for Europe were wasting their time because their games deteriorated. He cited François Steyn and Joe van Niekerk, France-based players who appeared at the Millennium Stadium, as being off the pace because they were no longer used to high-tempo rugby.
France were not amused by the last remark. They have not lost to South Africa since 2005 and have only been beaten in the fixture twice in the last nine meetings, winning a bruising encounter in Toulouse 20-13 the last time the teams met back in November. "The Super 14 may be played at a higher intensity than the Heineken Cup and the Top 14, but it does not mean our rugby is weak," Dimitri Szarzewski, the France hooker, said. "Steyn and Van Niekerk play good rugby every week and they remain top players when they are with South Africa. A big difference between the hemispheres is that players in the south have more rest time."
Never mind that New Zealand are ranked No1 in the world, tomorrow's international at Newlands is a match-up between the two dominant countries in the world in the last year: South Africa are the Tri-Nations champions and provided the Super 14 winners in the Bulls while France clinched the Six Nations title with a grand slam and Toulouse won the Heineken Cup in an all-French final. "We know the challenge we face and we are prepared for France," said South Africa's lock Victor Matfield. "The football World Cup will not be a distraction even though we hear the vuvuzelas all day from our hotel rooms. We are focused on what we need to do."
Elsewhere, Scotland face Argentina, World Cup pool rivals next year, in Tucumán having lost eight of their last nine matches against the Pumas, while Brian O'Driscoll declared himself fit to lead Ireland against New Zealand in New Plymouth tomorrow morning after recovering from a bout of vertigo.
Meanwhile, the Stade Français prop, David Attoub, has had his ban for gouging the Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris last season reduced by the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français from 70 weeks to a year. It means he will be free to play again in France from 10 December but he will remain suspended from the Amlin Challenge Cup until the following April. He said he had hoped for a greater reduction and that he faced a legal bill of some £50,000.
