This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
Published on October 25, 2019, Welsh coach Warren Gatland is perplexed by the notion that his team is the underdog for this Sunday's rugby World Cup semi-final.
Despite beating the Springboks in their last four clashes, with the Boks' last win coming in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, many pundits believe South Africa will be too strong in Yokohama and have greater depth.
'The nice thing about being here is you are kind of in a bubble,' Gatland said to reporters in a central Tokyo hotel on Friday. 'You're not seeing a lot of the stuff externally.'
Gatland hopes that the perception of his team as underdogs will continue, as it motivates his players.
'If they continue to do that over the next couple of days, that would be brilliant. Please, please keep doing that, because it does get us up when people write us off,' he said.
However, Gatland's team has a strong record against South Africa, with 12 wins, a draw, and six defeats in their last four or five years.
He expects Sunday's showdown to be a tight game, with both teams likely to engage in a kicking-fest.
'It will probably be a kicking-fest... they kicked 30 times against Japan so we've just got to be able to handle their game,' Gatland said.
