The Springboks will place emphasis on their kicking game tomorrow night when they face the All Blacks in the final of the Rugby World Cup in Paris.

Rain has been predicted for the final and this will make the forwards domination as well as the kicking game a lot more important.

Last week the Boks kicking game against England was poor and this is something they want to remedy.

The Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, said this will be an important aspect of their game.

“There is a 60 per cent chance there will be rain either just before the game or in the game,” said Nienaber.

“We had a semi-final where we were exposed to that. The kicking game will be important, like it is in any final or semi-final, and gaining territory will be important.

“If you look at our team we have got numerous kickers. I don’t think there is a guy who can’t kick in our backs and I suppose a couple of forwards will put their hands up as well. There are a couple of options there.”

Nienaber attended that while they’ve had a tougher route to the final, all of that doesn’t match and the focus is only on that needs to be done against New Zealand comes Saturday evening.

“In a final it’s about the final. I don’t think the past will have any bearing on what’s going to happen on Saturday.

“Every quarter-final, semi-final is tough. Each test that you play has got specific tests that you have to pass to win the test. It is almost like an exam you write. The one thing that will help us is the character that you build going through those games. That is the one thing we can fall back on, that we were properly challenged in the games that we played and we had to find a way.

“We had to find a way in the semi-final when we were 15-6 down with a scrum in our 22. Fair play to the players - they found a way.

“I think back to 2021, we lost our 100th test match against New Zealand. We were leading until the 78th minute then Jordie Barrett kicked an incredible penalty from the left touch line to seal the game.

“We lost against England at Twickenham in the 81st minute, we lost against Australia in Australia in the 82nd minute. There were a few games when the clock was within a few minutes or over 80 minutes and we lost. The learnings we took out of those games helped us in the quarter-final and semi-final.”

Saturday’s final kicks off at 21:00, while tonight, Argentina will square off against England.

Springboks - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements - 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Willie le Roux.

All Blacks - 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot

Replacements - 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Dalton Papali'i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Morgan Piek OFM Sport