Game against New Zealand is more than just a warm-up - South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth

South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth say the team is upbeat about facing New Zealand in the upcoming World Cup warm-up game at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

This will be the last warm-up game for the Boks before they head to France for the title defence and Etzebeth assured that they will be treating the encounter as a Test match and will give everything they could to beat Ian Foster’s men.

“We are playing in the Springbok jersey at one of the top stadiums in the world against a team with which we share one of the greatest rivalries, so this is not a warm-up match for us, it is a Test match,” said Etzebeth.

“We’ll give everything this week and we’ll worry about the World Cup after the game.

“If things go well for us, it could also give us confidence going into the World Cup, so this is a massive game for us.”

Meanwhile, wing Makazole Mapimpi echoed Etzebeth’s sentiments and stressed on the need to gain early advantage against the All Blacks.

“It’s always a big challenge against the All Blacks, and we are excited to have this opportunity to play against them. There’s a chance we could face them in the quarter-final, so this is an important match for us.

“One of the main lessons we learned was to be switched on from the start against them.

“In the first 20 minutes of the last match they were the better team on the field, so it’s important that we have a stronger start.”