De Jongh wants a 'spectacle' at Orlando Stadium

SA 'A' outscored the French Barbarians by six tries to four en route to a 36-28 victory in the first match of the series which was the first ever rugby match played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban last week.

The SA 'A' team had their first practice session of the week in Johannesburg on Monday and there was plenty of skill shown throughout the forwards and backs as Johan Ackermann’s charges focused on decision making and playing the ball out wide.

Speaking to reporters after training on Monday, De Jongh said that the team is feeling confident after last week’s performance against the French Barbarians.

"I must say there is a good energy in this team, it's always easy when you come off a win and it's going to be an interesting game this Friday. We know what to expect this weekend," said De Jongh.

Springbok flyhalf Handrè Pollard joined the South Africa 'A' camp on Sunday after replacing centre Francois Venter who replaced the injured Jesse Kriel in the Springbok squad and De Jongh explained the importance of having the experienced pivot in the team.

"It's always good to have some good experience. Handrè has been around the block, he has played international rugby and he's got a lot of experience inside the squad," commented De Jongh.

SA 'A' will be playing their first game at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto and De Jongh has promised that the crowd will be dished up a rugby spectacle with both teams looking to give the ball plenty of air. 

"It's always tough when it's an international game - there's going to be running rugby. 

"I know when we play at the Orlando Stadium, which means it's going to be very dry there hopefully this weekend. So hopefully we can have some running rugby and hopefully we can have a good spectacle for the crowd out there.

"It's a real privilege to play at the Orlando Stadium. I was blessed to play there in 2010 in the Super Rugby Final [Bulls won their third Super Rugby title with a 25-17 victory over the Stormers] when I played against the Bulls for the Stormers and the atmosphere back then was absolutely amazing with the vuvuzelas and all of that, so hopefully we can have the same amount of people coming out and the same energy coming out this weekend and supporting us to get the result," said De Jongh.

By Josh Isaacson, in Johannesburg

@rugby365com