BRISBANE// The South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has told his players not to assume they are certain to win this year's Tri Nations.
The world champions, who play Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, need just two points from their final two games to seal their first title since 2004. With three points for a victory, and a potential fourth for scoring four tries, that might seem like a sure thing.
But De Villiers, who has seeing his team win their first four games, including a 32-25 victory over the Wallabies last weekend, said: "We have not won the Tri Nations title yet and there are still two tough games to play," he said.
"We are focusing on the immediate task at hand and that is to do well against Australia.
"We do not chase records, but strive to improve on each and every performance. This team can still get much, much better and is playing winning rugby whilst still making errors.It excites me when I think of what these players could still do on the field."
Odwa Ndungane replaces JP Pietersen on the wing in the only change to the Boks' starting line-up after Pietersen suffered a hamstring injury in the win over Australia in Perth.
Danie Rossouw will replace the injured lock Andries Bekker on the bench after overcoming a shoulder injury.
"Whilst we have a lot of versatile players in the squad, Odwa is the natural winger and was the first choice," said De Villiers.
"He has been running the moves with us for some time and is familiar with the defensive patterns so he should fit in pretty easily".
Lock Bakkies Botha, who was replaced by Bekker last weekend, and wing Bryan Habana, who scored two tries in the match, were both selected despite having minor injury concerns.
Habana trained yesterday, but Botha sat out the session, prompting De Villiers to call up Johann Muller as cover.
Meanwhile, Australia's selectors have run out of patience with their team, who have lost all four of their Tri Nations matches, and dropped five players.
Scrumhalf Luke Burgess, hooker Stephen Moore, wing Peter Hynes, centre Ryan Cross and No 8 Richard Brown are all out of starting side for Saturday's match.
Burgess, Moore and Hynes are relegated to the bench, with Cross and Brown left out of the squad altogether.
"It's a Test match and against the world's best team. That's not a prospect any of our blokes would take lightly," said the coach Robbie Deans.
"Every time you put on your national jumper you want to do your best. That motivation doesn't change, regardless of the circumstance."
* Reuters
Company%20profile
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The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E666hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20at%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ1%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh1.15%20million%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A