Boks keep French guessing about team for World Cup quarter-final

SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus started the mind games on Tuesday night ahead of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup quarterfinal clash against France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday night.

Over the past few years the Boks have released their team for their games earlier than others, usually on a Tuesday when playing a match on a Saturday.

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At the World Cup they have managed to get clearance from World Rugby to continue this trend and have so far named their team on a Tuesday or Wednesday depending on whether they would play on Saturday or Sunday.

Keep them guessing

So it was expected that they would name their side for the France game on Wednesday night, only for it to be confirmed that they would only do so on Friday morning, with Erasmus admitting in a press conference on Tuesday that it was to keep the opposition guessing.

“We have been mixing and matching for the last year and making sure almost in every single position that we can have someone just as good (able to play), and in some cases we are not even sure who is the best,” explained Erasmus.

“We are keeping our options open for a seven-one, a six-two or a five-three (bench split) with both Handre (Pollard) and Manie (Libbok) being available. There is nobody with an injury, Lukhanyo (Am) is fully fit.

“We sort of have made up our mind but we’re in between at this stage. Tomorrow (Wednesday) internally we will confirm that. I think having everybody available and seeing what the French team look like, that may have an influence on us going seven-one or a six-two.”

Healthy squad

Erasmus claimed that with a fully fit squad it has made selection for the quarterfinal game extremely tough and that the Boks were in the privileged position to choose whatever players and bench split they wanted for the match.

“I think it would be a difficult situation if we only had two nines and one is injured. We don’t have any injuries currently, everyone is fit, we can pick from Lukhanyo right through to Vincent Koch, everyone is available,” said Erasmus.

“We are very fortunate and that is why we haven’t quite decided seven-one, six-two. It’s tough to announce the team.

“At the end of the day we are all going to lift the trophy. Not just as 33 players but with 22 management that’s 55 people. After we internally sort out everything, players just accept even if we picked the team and we make a mistake here or there.”