{"id":14250,"date":"2025-10-31T08:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T06:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/springbok-centres-prepare-for-high-tempo-battle-against-japan\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:26:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:26:53","slug":"springbok-centres-prepare-for-high-tempo-battle-against-japan","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/springbok-centres-prepare-for-high-tempo-battle-against-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Springbok centres prepare for high-tempo battle against Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Springbok centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende are expecting a fast and intense midfield battle when South Africa face Japan in their opening November International at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Both players have spent several years playing rugby in Japan, giving them firsthand knowledge of the team\u2019s style. The four-time world champions last met Japan in the 2019 World Cup quarter-final in Tokyo, winning 26-3.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kriel and De Allende stressed the importance of controlling the pace of the game. \u201cJapanese rugby operates at a very high tempo, moving the ball quickly from ruck to ruck to exploit space,\u201d they said. \u201cOur job will be to slow their ball down and disrupt their rhythm over the full 80 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Springboks\u2019 experience in Japan is expected to provide a strategic advantage, helping them anticipate the hosts\u2019 high-speed style and gain an edge in the midfield clash.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14251,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-14250","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Springbok centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende are expecting a fast and intense midfield battle","published_date":"2025-10-31 10:51:03","news_description":"Springbok centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende are expecting a fast and intense midfield battle","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18996,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14250\/revisions\/18996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=14250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}