Springboks: Experimentation over, time for selection continuity

The Springboks will launch their Rugby World Cup title defence on Sunday, 10 September, against Scotland in Marseille, which will be followed by pool matches against Romania in Bordeaux (17 September), Ireland in Paris (23 September) and Tonga in Marseille (1 October).

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However, before then they will play two all-important warm-up games against Wales and New Zealand.

The clash against Wales will take place this Saturday in Cardiff, with the game kicking off at 4.15pm, while they will then pick a full-strength team for the showpiece encounter against the All Blacks next weekend.

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Although the coaches have mixed and matched in terms of team selection up to now, it’s clear that this is a thing of the past.

“We have two Tests left before we begin our Rugby World Cup campaign and our focus now is to start building momentum and continuity so that we can peak at the right time for our opening game against Scotland in just under four weeks,” said coach Jacques Nienaber.

“We gave most of the players in the expanded squad a run in the last four matches and they are now battle hardened and we know anyone in this squad can step in and rise to the challenge whenever they are selected.”

So is this the Springboks line-up for ‘big’ World Cup games?

SPRINGBOKS WELCOME BACK KEY PLAYERS

Nienaber was excited to welcome back Siya Kolisi, Jaden Hendrikse and Ox Nche from injury.

“Siya and Ox have been working extremely hard on their rehabilitation over the course of several weeks, and it’s fantastic that everything worked out according to plan to allow us to select them for this match.

“They have two matches to build up their match fitness before the World Cup, and although it will be important to manage their load in the match, it’s vital that they return to the field as they are key players in our set-up.

“Jaden was unfortunate not to play in the last few weeks, but he is a top-class player and he’s been training hard, so we are pleased that he’ll finally get his chance this weekend. Unlike Siya and Ox, he’s been training fully with us for weeks, so it’s a matter of getting back into game mode for him.”

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RECORD AGAINST WALES

Played 40; Won 32; Lost 7; Drawn 1; Points for: 1 019; Points against; 642; Tries scored: 118; Tries conceded: 53; Highest score: 96-13; Biggest win: 83 points. Win % 80%.

Milestones:

• Manie Libbok requires five more points to reach 50 Test points.
• Damian Willemse is only 14 points short of earning 50 points for the Springboks.
• Siya Kolisi needs to score one more try to reach 10 Test tries and 50 points.
• The Munster duo of Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman will start as a combination for the Springboks for the first time against Wales.

Miscellaneous:

• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 664.
• There are 269 caps in the backline, with 395 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 304 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 38, the forwards 49, while the players on the bench average 38.

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