Here are your rugby evening headlines for Thursday, 14 July.
Wales need to be more disciplined
Wales coach Wayne Pivac has warned Wales will need to be more disciplined if they are to win the third Test against South Africa and secure a series victory.
Four yellow cards marred their last-gap defeat in the first Test, while even last weekend's historic victory in Bloemfontein saw Wales temporarily reduced to 14. Heading into the final stop of the tour in Cape Town, Pivac admits that reducing the penalty and card count will be crucial this weekend.
Read next: Wales team news v South Africa as Dan Biggar and Dillon Lewis both passed fit to start deciding Test
"Nothing has changed in terms of the Springboks having a very powerful scrum, a very good driven lineout," said Pivac. "So for us what has to happen is that we have to have a disciplined display, make sure we don’t give away the silly penalties we did in the first Test, and certainly the yellow cards have plagued us.
"We want to make sure we can tighten that up, and if we can play 15 players versus 15, we will be very happy."
Kitshoff hopeful Cape Town pitch holds up
Springboks prop Steven Kitshoff is hopeful that the Cape Town Stadium pitch will hold up for this weekend's decisive Test against Wales.
There's been a bit of talk about the surface, with the series level at 1-1 following Wales' win in Bloemfontein. Speaking about it on Thursday, Wales coach Wayne Pivac acknowledged that it could affect scrums.
Kitshoff, who last played in Cape Town during the United Rugby Championship final in June, admitted he was hopeful things had improved since then.
“We haven’t played a game there in about three to four weeks, so I am not 100% sure what the surface looks like at the moment,” he said. “With the URC it was a bit slippery and certain areas of the field were not in great shape but we were promised by the groundskeepers that they would fix the surface and hopefully it holds up this weekend."
And the World Cup-winning prop is under no illusions that Jacques Nienaber's side are in for a big challenge this weekend. Understandably, for a South African forward, his focus is largely on ensuring they get the rewards up front - something that didn't materialise last week.
“Wales have a good set piece and good scrum," he added. "You could see in the second half in Bloemfontein that they gained dominance in certain scrums.
“I still think it’s going to be a tough battle when it comes to set pieces and hopefully the surface holds up nicely for both teams to have a full go at each other. Even with their injuries, I still think they have a quality pack.
“From the referee’s point of view, they want to get the game going, but you have to have clear dominance within the laws. You have to go through the middle, go straight and any collapse the referee will tend to allow the game to go on.
“As a pack we want to push straight, we want to have clear dominance to earn the penalty. We don’t want to really take corners or walk around the scrums, we want to go through the middle and if it is a clear picture we want the reward for it.
“We understand the importance of this game, we understand how important it is for Wales — we need to get a win.”
Gatland backs Farrell for England job
Warren Gatland has told the RFU that they’d be "very lucky" to have Andy Farrell as their next head coach.
The former Wales boss, who has often been linked as a replacement for Eddie Jones, backed his former Lions lieutenant for the role in his Telegraph column.
“There is no doubt in my mind he (Farrell) would do a good job as a successor to Eddie Jones as England head coach after next year’s World Cup, but then he might decide to stay on with Ireland and achieve something really special with them. I have known the Ireland head coach for a long time, first working closely with him when I appointed him as defence coach for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in 2013 and again four years later for the tour of New Zealand.
“I would have taken him to South Africa last year too, but the Irish Rugby Football Union were not keen on him going. I was impressed by the way that he dealt with his experience with England in the 2015 World Cup and learned from it. He was much more concise in delivering information. Less is often more, particularly on a Lions tour when it is important not to overload the players.
“That evolution continued under Joe Schmidt with Ireland and in the last year he has begun to step out of Joe’s shadow and put his own stamp on things. The thing that I admire about him is that he has strong ideas and thoughts, but he is very loyal as well.”
Welsh-based players involved in crucial Test
It's a decisive weekend for each of the home nations, with all four sides currently tied at 1-1 in their respective series.
Scotland's clash with Argentina will see two Welsh-based players face each other, with Scarlets prop Javan Sebastian on the bench once again for Scotland and Dragons scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou involved in the matchday 23 for the home side.
Bertranou had started the previous two Tests - being named man of the match in the first - but will start Saturday's game from the bench.
Read next:
- Louis Rees-Zammit reveals how he responded to Pivac's axe and the injustice he experienced in South Africa
- Next Wales rugby internationals emerge as two giants, their leader and World Cup star's brother get everyone talking
- Wales rugby team turn up at South African children's hospital on day off in 'beautiful' gesture
- Scott Gibbs calls on Dan Biggar to stand himself down unless he's '100 per cent'
