HAMILTON, New Zealand—With less than two years to go before they begin their defence of the World Cup, South Africa have right to be brimming with confidence.
Judging on their performances in beating the British and Irish Lions and winning five of their six Tri-Nations test matches to secure the title this year, they are rapidly firming as the bookmakers' favourites to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.
Coach Peter de Villiers, however, is refusing to get too confident, believing his team still have room to grow and improve before they meet Wales in Wellington on Sept. 11, 2011.
"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," he told reporters after his team beat the All Blacks 32-29 at Waikato Stadium on Saturday to clinch the Tri-Nations title. "We still made a lot of mistakes.
"We don't have the control over winning and losing but ...we are still to see the best out of this team yet."
The Springboks have a simple game plan, encompassing an aggressive defensive screen, turning opposition around and building pressure in their opponents' half, which allows them to keep the scoreboard continuously ticking over.
The tactics force teams to take high-risk options and 'chase the game', which in turn slowly adds to the pressure that the Springboks then convert into more points.
De Villiers, however, perhaps adopting a cautious approach, said while his side had developed a good mix of players and tactics they would not be expecting too much before they get to the 2011 World Cup, which will be held in New Zealand.
"What we have got right is the blend, (and) this team can go places if they keep their feet on the ground.
"(But) our decision making during this Tri-Nations was sometimes very very good, sometimes good, but largely not so good.
"It showed that ...we have a lot of work to do. We won't be stitting back and thinking that this is it for us.
"We know that New Zealand in New Zealand for the World Cup is going to be very tough."
Springboks captain John Smit, who will be 33 by the time of the next World Cup and refused to be drawn on whether he would still be playing in 2011, said all this year's Tri-Nations had shown him was that all three teams were playing different styles.
"It's going to be tricky to say who is going in the right direction but all three teams are playing different games," he said.
" Rugby is there to provide different circumstances and you can not expect to win with the same tactics every weekend.
"You can't win with one plan, one tactic and we have seen that. We made the most of whatever pressure we could apply but it was very close in the end.
"It has been a close tournament."
