All Blacks prop Owen Franks is relishing the challenge of facing the Springboks and feels there is still plenty to play for in Pretoria on Saturday even though the world champions have the Rugby Championship in the bag.
Franks said it wasn’t a case of needing to think too much about the game as the excitement was already there and that was definitely the feeling when the team arrived in Pretoria after their flight from Argentina.
“You can’t beat a Test in Pretoria, hopefully it’s a sell-out,” he told the All Blacks’ official website.
“I haven’t played in a sold out stadium there since 2009 against the Bulls and it’s an awesome atmosphere.”
Franks said having a break from playing as happened in Buenos Aires meant being able to prepare for the Springboks without the usual soreness having played the previous week.
It was important for the side to rest after the travel and letting the body recover before getting into building for the week ahead.
In Buenos Aires he took delight in being able to sit back and watch Test freshmen Ofa Tuungafasi, Karl Tu’inukuafe and Angus Ta’avao perform so well against Argentina’s scrum.
“Angus when he came on really finished off the job for Ofa, and I thought Ofa was really good, really consistent, and they laid a good platform,” said Franks.
So far as Tu’inukuafe was concerned he said his potential was obvious to everyone.
“He’s a destructive scrummager, a pretty easy going guy but he flicks the switch when it comes to scrum time and on the field he’s dynamic too, especially for a big man. He’s got a huge future,” added Franks.