When Springboks’ team to face Tonga will be named!

The Springboks will next face Tonga in a must-win World Cup match this weekend, and it will be interesting to be see how the coaches opt to mix and match their selections for this encounter considering that it is a do-or-die clash against a tricky opponent.

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Kick off is at 9pm on Sunday.

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In team changes that can be expected, Handre Pollard is set to return to the No 10 jersey, while the likes of Kwagga Smith and Jaden Hendrikse are expected to be back in a new-look team.

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Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will his announce his team for Sunday’s quarter-final decider on Wednesday night. The likely time for this announcement is 7pm.

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THIS IS HOW THE SPRINGBOKS COULD LINE UP:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Ox Nche

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SOUTH AFRICA AIM TO PUT RECENT LOSS TO IRELAND BEHIND THEM

The Boks made the journey from Paris back to their base in Toulon by train on Sunday and had Monday off to rest and recover, before lacing up their boots for training on Tuesday.

“Our only focus this week is on Tonga,” said Springbok assistant coach Daan Human. “We are not looking further. We need to beat them to progress to the quarter-final.”

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Depending on how the pool pans out, points’ difference could also be important, but Human was careful about placing too much emphasis on that: “The most important thing for us this weekend will be to win and do what we have to do in order to qualify for the quarter-final, and that means we have to scrum well, maul well and get the points we need to qualify.

Putting the defeat last weekend behind them, Human said: “In the last maul, it was probably one of the best lineout throws I’ve seen, and we didn’t score a try. If we had scored there, we would have won the game.”

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RWC FIXTURES

• Sunday, 10 September – Springboks beat Scotland 18-3 (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)
• Sunday, 17 September – South Africa beat Romania 76-0 (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
• Saturday, 23 September – Springboks lost 13-8 to Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)
• Sunday, 1 October – South Africa v Tonga (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)
• Weekend of 14/15 October – quarterfinals
• Weekend of 21/22 October – semi-finals
• Saturday, 28 October – final

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