Russell and Co will test our defence, admits Bok assistant Davids

Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids took a philosophical approach when looking ahead to the Scottish challenge at Edinburgh this weekend, admitting that the game is set to be a classic of attack against defence to see who can emerge victorious.

“If you think about Gregor Townsend and his philosophy in terms of the brand of rugby that Scotland played in this year’s Six Nations and this past weekend, it’s part of their style of play to keep the ball in hand and use the width of the field,” explained Davids.

“So I think going into this game and having been successful this past weekend that might be the same scenario they bring at us and having quality players like Finn Russell and the guys around him to implement that, I think they’re going to ask a lot of questions of us in the game.

“From a defensive point of view that is what we need to be ready for, so we are prepared for that and we will be ready on game day. Scotland are a well coached side in all aspects, good at attack, set piece and defence, and we have to be ready to expect anything to counter them in all of those areas.”

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A passionate full house of supporters is expected to pack Murrayfield to capacity on Saturday and the Boks, as they did at the Principality this past weekend, will have to be ready to face a hostile home crowd who will be roaring their team on.

“Playing Wales and Scotland here with their passionate crowds and wonderful atmosphere that we are experiencing, it is going to ask a lot of our players and we will have to bring our best if we want to compete against them,” said Davids.

“So it’s always going to be tough. This weekend is going to be the same and having experienced that now we are going to have to be very tactically and technically sound in our execution if we are to get a positive result.”

Bok captain Siya Kolisi is enjoying one of his best years in the game, with him being in top form throughout the season and he will once again play an integral role in trying to lead his team to more success over the last two games of their UK tour.

“I think if you look back at the Lions series, the Rugby Championship and this past weekend’s game, Siya has played his heart out. He has really stepped up and put in some great performances,” admitted Davids.

“He has been inspirational in terms of his leadership and his off field preparation leading up to games as well as the challenges he has faced and how he has handled them are all areas that we have to commend him on.”