‘Mental block’ is stopping Wales

Wales will have to smash a ‘mental blockage’ when they go big-game hunting against the Springboks in Cardiff on Saturday.
The champions of Europe have fallen to 13 consecutive defeats against South Africa in 13 years, and Joel Stransky warns that unless Wales stop their historic rot against the Springboks and All Blacks they can forget about winning the World Cup in 2015.
“For a side as good as Wales, there has to be some sort of mental blockage preventing them from winning the tough matches,” Stransky, who won the World Cup with an extra time drop goal in 1995, said from his home in Cape Town. “It’s got to be a mental thing.
“The issue for Wales is to find the winning mentality against the really top teams. You really do have to question why they’ve been so close so often and haven’t beaten the Boks for such a long time,” Stransky said. “They’ve still to show they have learnt how to win the really tight matches. The England World Cup winning team of 2003 knew how to do that but it hasn’t happened yet for Wales.
“The longer a team struggles to win those tight games, the harder it becomes.
“If Wales do win, then it will be one of their most famous victories. As good as Wales are they have got weaknesses and you’re only as good as your weakest link.
“The Boks have the ability to exploit those weaknesses.   We are so fortunate in South Africa in having enormous depth to our pool of players. I don’t think there’s the same depth in the British countries.
“When Wales have a few injuries they come unstuck badly. If you catch Wales on a day when everything clicks, they can be devastating and they play a brand of rugby which is very difficult to defend against.
“This is a very good Springboks team. A number of the youngsters coming through will become massive global stars before long. I know Heyneke Mayer doesn’t play the most exciting brand of rugby but he’s very good at playing in the winter wet of the UK.
“We will be awfully hard to beat at the confrontation and the kicking game will be superb. Wales will be thinking: ‘Why have we not beaten a team as good as the Springboks for so long?’
“It’s whether they can summon the necessary self-belief from deep down in their subconscious. To beat a team with the physicality of the Boks you’ve got to match them blow for blow and then you’ve got to do something extraordinary.”
Wales have beaten the Boks just once in more than 100 years, at the opening of the Millennium Stadium in 1999.
PETER JACKSON