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Subscribe to RSS FeedMatfield sizes up England
Pack Leader: Victor Matfield addresses his troops on the eve of battle
South Africa lock Victor Matfield has drawn a line under his side's thumping pool victory over England and only has eyes for Saturday's rematch in the World Cup Final at Stade de France in Paris.
The Boks destroyed England at the same venue during last month's encounter, racking up 36 unanswered points to leave the reigning champions in absolute disarray.
Certain sections of the South African media have held up that game as a portent of things to come, but Matfield has warned against complacency.
England have come on leaps and bounds since that day, and the wily Bulls lock pointed out that play-off encounters breed the sort of intensity that is sometimes missing from log-based combat.
"Finals are funny thing, I think every time you go into a final it's 50-50," he said.
"There's going to be opportunities on the day and in the Final it's vital, there's only going to be one or two opportunities and when you get them you have to use them, so I think that's what it's all about.
"Anything that happened in the past is the past, and the 80 minutes in the Final is what's going to be important.
"England will try to intimidate us up-front and then play field positions with Jonny Wilkinson, so we'll have to stay up to him."
Matfield believes the key to Saturday's game will be the set-piece, particularly the battle at the line-out, and he paid handsome tribute to England's second-row combination of Simon Shaw and Ben Kay.
"In the last year you can see how much more emphasis there was on the phases, in the scrum and the line-out, so it's going to be that again on Saturday," he said.
"We have focused a lot on our scrum this week and hopefully we can put them under pressure in the line-outs as well.
"We did very well at the line-out against Argentina but I don't think the the Pumas are in the same class as England, so it will be a bit more difficult, but we're confident.
"[Kay and Shaw] are much the same as Bakkies Botha and myself.
"I think Kay is the thinker of the line-out - he always comes up with something new, so that's going to be interesting.
"Shaw's probably the closest lock you get to Bakkies. He's very physical and likes driving more than anything.
"I think he made a big difference to the England side. I think he has given their pack a physical edge - he's a big boy, so I think he gave them that physicality they needed."
Matfield, like many of his team-mates, will be plying his trade in Europe come the new year, and there's a real sense that Saturday's match could mark the end on era for a Springbok side that has remained largely unchanged since their Tri-Nations victory of 2004.
But Matfield made it clear that fond farewells and quivering lips were not on the agenda just yet .
"To be honest, yes, I do think it's the end of four years, but I haven't really thought about that," he said.
"We just see the opportunity and I don't think anyone knows what's happening after the World Cup with the coaching staff, with some of the senior players.
"But we're only focusing on Saturday and hopefully we can get a good win and we'll take the future after that."
