Springboks could be forced to make late team change

Springboks could be forced to make late team change

On Tuesday, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a vastly experienced team for the first Test against Ireland this weekend, while he also opted for a six-two bench split in favour of the forwards.

Talented Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are the two backs on the bench, and will cover more than one position, but Erasmus has not ruled out the possibility that there might be a late change to the ‘bomb squad’.

In fact, with injury niggles still being assessed within the squad, there is even a possibility that the Springboks could revert to a 7-1 forwards-to-back split on the bench, which they did for their third Rugby World Cup pool encounter – ironically against Ireland. It was a ploy that they also used in the World Cup final.

“We have one or two niggles, and the possibility for a seven-one bench split still remains,” Erasmus admitted on Tuesday.

“We’ll give that time until Thursday, but I don’t want to elaborate too much on that, but Sacha certainly brings something to the party where we don’t have to make a lot of changes when we go six-two.

“If a 12 goes down, Sacha can go there because he’s played for the Stormers, and in the event of a injury at 15, Sacha can go there and move to 10 if necessary.”

Ireland defeated the Springboks at the 2023 World Cup

Prior to that blockbuster RWC pool game, Ireland coach Andy Farrell actually advocated his support for the Springboks’ bravery in enforcing a 7-1 split.

“I think more importantly than the seven-one split, which is a bit irrelevant to us, is the last game we played against each other [before the World Cup, which Ireland won 19-16 in Dublin in November 2022].

“I’m sure they think they know us a bit better, and maybe that might have influenced the split. But we feel the same. We feel we could have performed better on that occasion, and both teams have the opportunity to show that at the weekend.

“There are all sort of different permutations,” he added when talking at the time at the start of the World Cup. “Even with a five-three split, you can’t cover everything. But you need to be adaptable, which is something we have worked hard at with our planning over the last few years.

“I suppose they [Springboks] have done exactly the same with the seven-one split. I love it; I respect it. I like the fact they know their squad and brought four scrum-halves over, a hooker who has not really played in that specialist position before.

“It shows they know their players and which direction they want to go. Hopefully, they think the same about us as well.”

MATCHDAY SQUAD

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Stats and facts:

Springbok record against Ireland:

Played 28, Won 18, Lost 9, Drawn 1. Points for: 530; Points against: 412. Tries scored: 72; Tries conceded: 38. Highest score: 38; Biggest win: 38 points (38-0). Average score: 19-15. Win %: 64.2%.