Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand's Tamaiti Williams wary of South Africa's bench ahead of showdown in Paris

New Zealand prop Tamaiti Williams believes the All-Blacks need to counter the threat of South Africa's bench when the two sides meet in the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday evening.

The Springboks' replacement tight-five forwards made a significant impact in their 16-15 win over England in the semi-finals with Ox Nche, Vincent Koch and RG Snyman all playing starring roles.

South Africa beat New Zealand 35-7 in their World Cup warm-up match as the Springboks played with seven forwards at once off the bench to overpower their opponents at Twickenham.

However, New Zealand were the winners of their Rugby Championship meeting in Auckland in July, winning the contest 35-20 where Williams came on as a replacement for the final 20 minutes to make his All-Blacks debut .

Williams, who came on as a loosehead in New Zealand's 44-6 victory over Argentina in Friday's semi-final, is wary of the threat South Africa's bench pose.

“It’s clear they’ve got a good bench," Williams told reporters.

"They do damage when they come on. It is about whatever the team needs us to do off the bench – [adding] energy with our voice, energy with our ball carrying, our set-piece.

"There is a lot of talk about them but we are just going to focus on ourselves and make sure we are primed. When the bench comes on, we need to make sure we make an impact."

Williams insists New Zealand are fully aware of how dangerous the world champions can be at set-pieces and says the All-Blacks must be equally physical to counter one of their great strengths.

"They are great scrummagers, as we all know," he said.

"If I get the opportunity to be out there on Saturday I’ll be up for the challenge. But it all starts with the preparation, and we’ll have a closer look at how we can counter that.

"They are massive, and clinical. If you give them a chance they all take it. For us, it is all about being clean. You have to match the physicality.

"Everyone knows what they are going to bring. We had a good win against them [in Auckland] and we got a hiding against them [at Twickenham] as well."

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