Question: Alex Cuthbert has come in for Josh Adams, can you just explain why?
Wayne Pivac: Probably the two we went with in the first Test were the two fittest and we’ve probably got the two fittest now for this Test. Alex comes in and he’s got a lot of height. We expect there to be some aerial battles going on so we think he can give us an edge in that area of the game.
Q: He’s come back from a niggle, was it back and hamstring?
WP: He’s certainly got the volume into him now and we’re really, really happy with him. He’s full of running and fresh so we’re expecting a big work rate from the back three.
Q: Josh Adams played with a lot of strapping on – how is he?
WP: His leg is fine. He had strapping on other parts of his body as well. He got through the game and he’ll play some part off the bench again this weekend.
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Q: Will he cover centre?
WP: Yes, back three and the midfield. The midfield didn’t get as much rugby in the Test match last week. We’re not sure if it will be the same way again or not. But certainly the back three had a big work rate.
Q: Sam Wainwright comes onto the bench – what have you seen of him?
WP: We looked long and hard at the tight-heads available when we looked at bringing an extra prop in and in the initial selection when Leon [Brown] was out. Sam is one we think has a big future in the game.
It’s a big ask for any of the props we’d have put in there. Sam has trained really well, he’s enjoying every minute of his time with us and if he gets on the park and makes his debut it will be fantastic for him and his family.
Q: Is Wyn Jones back in after getting that extra bit of volume into him?
WP: We had a lot of guys coming off no rugby and injuries. It was about getting the balance right in the first week. Looking ahead to the second week we think this is a good balance.
Q: Sir Gareth Edwards says that the 14 changes South Africa have made is disrespectful – is it?
WP: No. From our point of view it’s a big focus on how we can improve from the last Test match. We’re in a different part of the cycle. We’re at the end of our season and they’re at the start of theirs. They’ll have their reasoning.
They have depth and quality throughout their squad and they have experience in this team. We’re certainly not taking them lightly at all. They have players there with an opportunity to impress ahead of the third Test.
We know they’ll come out strongly and represent their country strongly like anyone in the jersey would do. For us it’s about what we can control and that’s our performance.
Q: What are your feelings after how close the first Test was?
WP: In reviewing the game, one of the plays of the match, which was Louis Rees-Zammit’s excellent cover tackle and then clear release and work over the ball to earn a penalty. They scored a try off that and we were down another player.
That was a big moment in the game for us and very disappointing. We have to put that behind us. The boys have worked really hard this week as they did for the first Test and we can go in there knowing we can’t have done much more to prepare for this Test match. We’ve put the disappointment of last week behind us and we’re excited to go again.
Q: Have you spoken to World Rugby and had a response about some of the decisions last week?
WP: Yes, we have. I mentioned Louis Rees-Zammit. I think that was the most unlucky play in the match. Clearly from our point of view we thought it was an excellent play. It was a big moment in the game. That was a little bit frustrating.
We know there were areas in the game which we need to improve on in terms of our discipline but we felt also that there were some things which didn’t go our way.
We’ve put that behind us, and we’ve got the learnings from that. We’ve spoken about the areas of the game we need to tighten up on in terms of our discipline so hopefully we can make sure we achieve that in the second Test.
Q: What are you expecting from Bloemfontein? A similar atmosphere to Pretoria?
WP: 100 percent. We’ve got an advanced group up there and people are buzzing. They haven’t had a Test match for a few years, so we expect it to be another great atmosphere and one we’re looking forward to.
Q: Are players used to the altitude now?
WP: Yeah coming over when we did has paid dividends. Everyone is pretty much acclimatised and looking forward to just getting out there now.”
Q: We all know what Alex Cuthbert has been through in his career – how have you found working with him?
WP: He’s been excellent. He talks openly and looks back at his career to date and knows he’s a much better rugby player now, with the experience that he’s had. I think he really enjoyed playing outside of Wales but he’s back now and thriving in the environment.
Q: How close was the call at hooker?
WP: Dewi [Lake] is doing a great job for us coming off the bench. The fine arts of the game, the scrummaging and that sort of thing give Ryan [Elias] the nod. But it’s great competition and Sam Parry in the background is working very, very hard putting as much pressure as he can on those two.
That’s what we want across all positions in the squad. We’re trying to build depth and hooker is one where there is a lot of competition.
Q: Has Sam Wainwright been having a lot of chats with Jon Humphreys and the other props?
WP: As you would expect from a young player coming in, he’s like a sponge soaking up all the information. He’s having a lot of conversations with Jon and the experienced players around him.
He’s really looking forward to the opportunity and once he’s out there he’ll give it everything he has.
Q: Does it throw a spanner in the works that you have to deal with a team that has made so many changes?
WP: For us, we aren’t really sure what might be coming. There are a lot of players there who haven’t played together for a while.
“It is really a matter of focussing on what we can bring to the game and hopefully that’s going to be a lot more discipline than last week because we let ourselves down clearly in that area of the game.
To hold South Africa as close as we did for as long as we did with the penalty count as it was is a testament to some of the good work we did do.
When a coach does what South Africa have done, it’s a big pat on the back for their squad. He’s shown confidence in his squad and if you can get a result by using your whole squad across a series like this then you’re in a pretty good space. They’re obviously backing their players.
Q: Do you feel that having a more settled team gives you the edge?
WP: We are happy to not have too many injuries. Tomas Francis was very unlucky last week but we’ve got a pretty settled side, and from our point of view we are happy with that.
We do know the team we will be coming against will be full of enthusiasm. When you give rugby players an opportunity most of the time they’ll take it with both hands. We are expecting a South Africa side full of ambition, full of intensity in the way they play the game, and we know that they’ll be coming with one thing in mind, and that is to win a test match.
Q: Take me through the thinking of not moving to Bloemfontein earlier than Thursday afternoon?
WP: From our end this facility has been fantastic. It can accommodate us, the one we are going to is a little bit smaller so it isn’t ideal.
We are going to a smaller town so that’s to be expected. We fit in really well and have been well looked after. We know we will enjoy our time in Bloemfontein.
Q: Look at the backs in particular, do you feel you have an advantage there when you look at the experience you have?
WP: We’ve probably had a few more days to prepare than that particular back-line we will be up against. You’ve just got to look at the experience in their back-line with Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen. They are very good players. They are very experienced players.
The world class number 10 drops back in there so we expect them to settle down pretty early in this game. We expect it to be another arm wrestle and hopefully we can just front up and do our part.
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