Faf de Klerk of South Africa in action during South Africa Rugby training at Asahi Football Park on October 16, 2019 in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
For the neutrals, the Springboks won’t have endeared themselves in picking a team that features a 6-2 split on the bench for Sunday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Tokyo.
Given the exciting brand of rugby that the host nation is playing at the moment, detractors will bemoan that Rassie Erasmus has reinforced South Africa’s reputation of being “boring” and “predictable”.
But you can bet on Erasmus and his troops not caring one bit.
In a tournament like this, it’s about maximising one’s strengths and in the Boks’ case it’s a vaunted, powerful and skillful pack of forwards.
Erasmus certainly made no secret of the fact that he believes the recipe that worked so well against Italy – a game won 49-3 – will be appropriate against the Brave Blossoms.
“We were satisfied with the performance against Italy and want to build on that,” he said.
“We have been improving and building momentum this season and we will be looking for further improvements this weekend. Japan are a well-coached team and have deservedly climbed to seventh in the world rankings. It’ll be a good challenge but we’re definitely up for it.”
The Bok mentor also has full faith in this group of substitutes to not only inject energy and intensity into the team’s later play, but also their ability to handle the pressures of a knockout game.
“When we set out on this campaign at the start of last season, one of the things we said we wanted to do was broaden and deepen the experience in the squad,” said Erasmus.
“We’re now in a position where everyone in the starting XV has had a proper taste of top-level Test rugby and we’ve got a strong spine of Test experience for these high-pressure matches. You need that experience when it comes to handling the pressure situations we will face on Sunday and I think we’ve achieved that now.”
Springboks: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c), Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Beast Mtawarira. Bench: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vince Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn.
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