Handre Pollard ready for ‘enormous test’

Editor

South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard is expecting a backlash from New Zealand when the teams meet in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The All Blacks were stunned by their Round Four loss to the Springboks in Wellington and bounced back well against Argentina last weekend.

But Pollard knows the hurt will remain from the Westpac Stadium game and is excited by the meeting in front of a sold out Loftus Versfeld.

“There’s no doubt that they (All Blacks) will be coming hard at us,” said Pollard when speaking to the media ahead of the game in Pretoria.

“They don’t like losing and they would want to rectify matters. We know it’s going to be hard and physical and we will have to match that.

“We have a bit of confidence and we are in a good space but we strive to consistently play at a high level. There’s no doubt that Saturday will be an enormous test for us.”

Sat alongside centre Jesse Kriel, Pollard added that the prospect of playing in front of a sell-out Loftus crowd is one he’s thrilled about.

“We’ve often spoken about what it would be like to play a Test match for the Springboks in front of a packed, sold-out Loftus. Well on Saturday we will get that chance and we are all very excited,” he said.

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