New Zealand star Ma’a Nonu is ready for his country’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Saturday.
The two heavyweight nations will meet at Twickenham for the clash, the first meeting between the pair since the All Blacks triumphed 27-20 in the Rugby Championship in July this year.
Nonu and Conrad Smith led New Zealand to the Rugby World Cup in 2011, but will be facing a less experienced pair in South Africa’s Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende on Saturday.
However, Nonu was full of praise for the South African pair, who performed admirably in that loss back in July. The New Zealander said:
They are a great partnership and I’ve seen them grow this year. They are both at great Super 15 franchises and it’s going to be a massive match-up in terms of myself and Conrad. We have prepared well, so we’ll see how it goes in the game.
Nonu also spoke kindly of his teammate Dan Carter, who has had personal setbacks in all of his previous three World Cup tournament appearances, including in New Zealand’s winning tournament in 2011.
However, Nonu rejected any suggestion that the All Blacks winning the trophy again to get Carter his winners’ medal:
I don’t think we want to think about the last World Cup. It’s a collective thing for us. It’s all about the All Blacks and that’s what we want.
On Carter, he added:
I’ve been lucky enough to play outside Dan for over 10 years. I guess we started our careers at the same time. I’ve watched him grow and playing at the top of his game is good to see. He’s a great friend as well, so hopefully we just carry on
Victory for New Zealand on Saturday would put them into the World Cup final for the fourth time, having won two out of their three previous final appearances.
