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Preview: South Africa v USA

The incredible Schalk: He's back!

South Africa and the USA bring the curtain down on the pool matches in the 2007 Rugby World Cup when they meet in Montpellier on Sunday.

South Africa will win this one and win it comfortably. It is not an even contest. The teams will start at zero-all but it is not likely to stay so for long.

It will be uneven in the disparity between the class of player playing. Man for man the South Africans are a class above. The Springboks are unbeaten in the 2007 World Cup. The USA have lost three out of three. They have been zestful and have played well if one takes their limitations into account. They did well against England and were the first to signal the trouble the World Champions were in. Then they lost to eager Tonga and then to Samoa who have been slightly disappointing. The best part of the Eagles' play has been their positive approach.

The Springboks have enhanced the disparity in player class by bringing out their big guns to fire at the USA. They may have wobbled against Tonga when they had several players who have hardly played at all in recent times but this time the occasionals are sitting out and the hardened men are charging into battle. True they are resting the hardest of them all, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw's neck is still stiff and they are giving Akona Ndungane a chance to play at the World Cup. That is not weakening enough to give the Eagles hope.

To add to Eagles' problems they have had little time to recover from their match against the bruising Samoans. Their match spread has not been smooth - four days between England and Tonga, a fortnight between Tonga and Samoa and now four days between Samoa and South Africa.

Results against common opponents at this World Cup:

England: USA lost 28-10. South Africa won 36-0
Tonga: USA lost 25-15. South Africa won 30-25
Samoa: USA lost 25-21. South Africa won 59-7

That suggests a Springbok victory. In any case the South Africans are set fair for the knock-out rounds with a distinct possibility of progress in them, which they are unlikely to jeopardise at this stage. The USA are home bound as this match ends their World Cup participation. This may produce a last-ditch mentality. It may also produce a let's-get-out-of-here mentality.

There is not a lot of history between the two sides. This will be just their third meeting. The first was in 1981, at the height of anti-Springbok demonstrations, when a trip to the USA was tagged onto the New Zealand tour to take heat off New Zealand by showing that the "world's greatest democracy" was willing to allow the Springboks to tour.

The next match was 20 years later when eccentric coach Harry Viljoen took a tired Springbok team to Houston. There are survivors of this match who will run out onto Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier. Remarkably the Springboks will have the same lock-pairing to start - Victor Matfield and Albert van den Berg. Then John Smit was on the bench that day. For the USA broad prop Mike MacDonald and centre Phillip Eloff will be back. MacDonald scored the Eagles' try in Houston and Eloff will again face the land of his birth.

It's hard to see how the Eagles can get enough ball to pose any kind of challenge. They battled in the line-outs against England and Tonga and against all three opponents in the scrums. It's hard to see them winning the loose against Schalk Burger and Wikus van Heerden.

Even if they had parity up front they look far and away outclassed behind the back, even with the relatively green Akona Ndungane on the wing for South Africa, for his an energetic and clever player with top rugby experience.

One thing is certain though - the Eagles will not surrender. They have fought tooth and nail in all their matches, winning the second half well against Samoa. They have had an admirable World Cup in a tough pool.

The Eagles have suffered a loss in number eight Fifita Mounga who may well have suffered a serious injury against Samoa.

Head to Head: It's hard to find a close, individual contest but there could be an interesting contest at outside centre where South African Eagle Philip Eloff of the USA is sure to want to impress his countrymen and his target will be tall, long-striding Jaque Fourie of South Africa. Two other Eagles are born in South Africa - Chad Erskine and Owen Lentz.

Players to watch: You will see Schalk Burger, back from suspension and bound to be at his energetic best. He will - again - be the most obvious player on the field. You will also see a lot of multi-skilled Fourie du Preez at scrum-half. This time those two are at eight and nine and so will be working closely together. And how will Akona Ndungane of the flowing locks do on the wing? In the USA side you will see Mike Hercus. Given a reasonable service - which he has not had - he is a creative fly-half, as he showed when the Eagles threw caution to the wind to break the stranglehold the Samoans had on them, thus setting a fightback in motion. Hooker Owen Lentz has been an impressive player with his all-round skills and energy.

Previous Results

2001: South Africa won 43-20 at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas
1981: South Africa won 38-7 at Owl Creek Polo Field in Glenville, New York

Prediction South Africa to win by 30 or so.

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 François Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Wikus van Heerden, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Bobby Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 JP Pietersen

USA:United States: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Philip Eloff, 12 Vahafolau Esikia, 11 Salesi Sika, 10 Mike Hercus (c), 9 Chad Erskine, 8 Dan Payne, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Mike Mangan, 4 Alec Parker, 3 Chris Osentowski, 2 Owen Lentz, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements: 16 Blake Burdette, 17 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 18 Mark Aylor, 19 Henry Bloomfield, 20 Mike Petri, 21 Valenese Malifa, 22 Thretton Palamo.

Date: Sunday, 30 September 2007
Kick-off: 20.00 (18.00 GMT, 19.00 BST)
Venue: Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Expected weather conditions: 20 per cent chance of rain with a high of 22°C, dropping to a comfortable 18°C and a southeaster of 28 km/h, dropping to 25 km/h
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges: Paul Marks (Australia), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Ian Scotney/Stuart Beissel