South Africa prop Trevor Nyakane has vowed his side are preparing to 'inflict pain' on Wales in the second Test in Bloemfontein this weekend.
The 33-year-old was not involved in the dramatic first Test, which ended 32-39 at Loftus Versfeld, and is one of 14 changes to the starting line-up as the show rolls into the Toyota Stadium. Much of the narrative among locals this week has been of how Dan Biggar and his side got under the skin of their hosts in the series opener.
Inspirational leader Siya Kolisi, who has been rested this week, admitted he acted out of character during the match as the Springboks looked flustered in the opening 40 minutes. Wales skipper Biggar asked: "I’m not quite sure what people expected from us, just roll the carpet out and applaud them off the pitch?"
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Biggar insisted that the hosts were just as 'niggly' as Wales during the match, but Nyakane says that they will be 'silent bullies' this weekend.
He said: "I think most teams try to do that when it comes to us. You can fight fire with fire but you must also be smart. You don't want to be sent off the field for saying something ridiculous or doing something that's not worthy of the Springbok colours.
"For us it's going to be tough and we know they're going to try their best to do that (get under our skin). The only way we know how to do things is to be silent bullies. That's exactly what we're going to do.
"We want to inflict pain, we want to inflict our physicality on them. So if they're going to be talking or whatever, we'll let them do what they do best and we will do what we know how to do best."
Like the first Test in Pretoria, the second Test in Bloemfontein - the home town of Bok management duo Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus - will take place at altitude.
Wales have made the decision this week to remain at their base in Johannesburg until Thursday night, rather than fly to the tour's next stop like the Springboks did. Nyakane, who spent the first four years of his career in the Free State representing the Cheetahs, feels it might come back to bite Wales.
He insists this is a different kind of test, despite being closer to sea level than Wales' training base on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
On Wales' decision to stay put, Nyakane said: "I don't know, maybe they felt that the altitude will help in training up there in Joburg. But from my experience, it's a different ball game here.
"It's definitely not easy. After Pretoria and Johannesburg, this is probably one of the hardest places to play. It's a bit difficult to breathe here, it feels dry, there's not a lot of oxygen. So it's a bit tougher for teams coming here.
"Even when I played for the Cheetahs back in the day, I felt like it's always tougher for the other teams. When we play against the guys, that's what they say. It's a tough place to come and play."
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