The All Blacks made a blistering start in their 35-20 victory over the Springboks in July’s Rugby Championship meeting at Eden Park, racing into a 17-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The former Sale scrumhalf says the Boks must be mentally switched on from the off to put a marker down ahead of their opening World Cup match against Scotland on September 10.
He said: “There’s a point to prove for ourselves. We had a very disappointing first 20 minutes and after that things started coming back together; we started playing well being our physical selves.
“Rectifying mistakes we made against them is important, we need to go in with the right mentality and be ready from the word go. Whenever, you play the All Blacks you want to give it a bit extra and make sure you get the win.”
Star fly-half Handre Pollard looked to have missed out on the World Cup after failing to make the final 33-man squad due to a calf injury. He was named on a five-player shortlist to offer support during the final warm up games but de Klerk says the Leicester 10 is back in full training.
This story is from the August 20, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the August 20, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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