Boks to keep ball away from Samoa, Tuilagi at W.Cup

South Africa will aim to dominate set-piece possession to starve Samoa's chances of upsetting the defending champions and reaching the World Cup quarter-finals at North Harbour on Friday. The Springboks signalled their intent by recalling lineout general Victor Matfield and have stacked their scrum options to try and keep the ball away from Samoa and their match-winning winger Alesana Tuilagi. Samoa haven't got close to the Springboks in three previous World Cup encounters, but even a win without a bonus point may not be enough to squeeze into the knockout rounds for the first time in 16 years. They may also have to rely on Fiji beating Wales in Hamilton on Sunday. The Samoans, who promised so much after a historic win over the Wallabies in Sydney last July, have largely failed to deliver at the World Cup, going down to Wales in their crucial pool game and now needing to topple the world number two Springboks. "This is last-chance saloon and we have to play the game that we play best, we have nothing to lose," scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i said. "This is an outstanding Samoa squad but we haven’t produced our big performance of the World Cup yet and it has to happen now." Leicester Tigers winger Tuilagi is Samoa's danger man with three tries and takes a power of stopping with his hulking 120kg frame. "He's shown his class all over the world and he seems to be getting better and better," Springboks backs coach Dick Muir said. "We need to keep him at bay. We have got a plan." Blindside flanker Heinrich Brussow said of the Tuilagi challenge: "You can't get one man to check him because he can beat any man at any time. It's just a mental thing. You have to make that statement and step up." The Springboks have relished playing in the toughest group at the World Cup, and still they have totted up 153 points to 19 in their three pool victories. "We wanted tough, physical games in the lead-up to the play-offs," backs coach Dick Muir said. "We came into the competition a little underdone and we used the games to prepare ourselves for the play-offs." South Africa have improved during the tournament after winning just one of their four Tri-Nations Tests this year against Australia and New Zealand. They are likely to face the Wallabies in next weekend's quarter-finals depending on final pool round results. "We are looking for constant improvement, there are lots of areas in our game which we are still not happy with," Muir said. Victor Matfield returns from two games out with a hamstring strain to lead South Africa for the 17th time in his 109th Test. Regular captain John Smit, who also has a record 109 Tests, will be on the bench to allow hooker understudy Bismarck du Plessis to start his first match of the tournament. Samoa are also living with the threat that if their discipline lets them down they will be punished by the goalkicking of fly-half Morne Steyn. Steyn is the tournament’s leading scorer with 48 points and is kicking at 85 percent, having converted 17 from his 20 attempts at goal. The Samoans realise the huge challenge that confronts them at North Harbour if they are to be the sole Pacific islands team in the last eight. "It is a huge step up. To upset the world champions to get into the quarter-finals, that is how we are looking at this," New Zealand-born lock Kane Thompson said. "We will be up for this game, definitely. It is a great opportunity. To make the quarter-finals and beat the world champions would make it more special." Samoa last reached the quarter-finals at the 1995 World Cup when they lost 42-12 to the eventual champions South Africa in Johannesburg.