WATCH: ‘Big week’ for Springboks, says Pollard ahead of series decider

After the Springboks‘ fringe brigade suffered a chastening defeat in the second Test against Wales at the Free State Stadium over the past weekend, the full strength side will be fully prepared and ready for the decider in Cape Town this coming Saturday.

The Bok team for the second Test featured a raft of changes from the one that won the first Test and a large number of changes are expected to be made for the final Test.

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The only players that will likely feature in the decider from the second Test are Handre Pollard, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Damian Willemse, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch.

Despite this, plenty of lessons will be taken from the second Test performance and should prepare the Boks well for the finale.

“There were a lot of lessons to learn for us as a group, and we will get stuck into it and get ready for next week,” said Bok captain on the day Pollard.

“It’s going to be a big challenge. It’s going to be a big week for us. We will prepare well and we will come out blazing.

“We are a proud bunch of guys, the Springbok means a lot to us. So we have to come back and fight.”

Springboks’ first defeat to Wales in SA

For Pollard it was a very disappointing first Test as captain of the Boks, with it going down as their first ever loss in South Africa against Wales, but he believes his charges still played well and that they managed to get a lot out of the match.

“You are never satisfied with a loss playing in the Springbok jersey. But in general I am still positive. I think the guys really showed some fight and that’s all we ask for. The result was very disappointing and it will take us 24 hours to get over it,” said Pollard.

“But then we will look at it. We will look at the details, see where we could have done better and then learn from it and come back better next week, that’s all we can do. We have seven days before we play again and we have to get back on the horse on Monday morning.”