Four themes dominating the build-up to the big Bok Test

Rassie Erasmus and his Springboks are on the cusp of already reaching a major first achievement as group should they win the second Test against England in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

It would mean that they’ll seal the three-match series.

But they’ll have to contend with a hurting group of accomplished English players as well as a wily coach in Eddie Jones.

Here are four key themes leading up to this crucial match.

Pieter-Steph du Toit is becoming a trump card

If there was one positive thing to emerge from Allister Coetzee’s reign, it was his willingness to shift Du Toit to blindside flank.

While he did struggle initially, the 25-year-old has come into his own in the No 7 jersey this year and is now touted to become another Andre Venter, the legendary Bok who was brilliant as flank and lock.

“We’re lucky to have a guy like him. People want to categorize somebody as something specific, but it’s wonderful that he is in the Andre Venter mould. He can cover there and is solid in both positions. Going forward we’ll use him in both positions,” said Erasmus.

Faf will cope with ‘increased’ pressure

There’s a school of thought that nippy Bok halfback Faf de Klerk could be brought back down to earth this weekend.

He was outstanding at Ellis Park, adding huge value with his snappy service, incisive attacking play and gutsy defence.

That has prompted some to feel that England underestimated him.

Yet Erasmus makes a very valid point in terms of arguing that’s not the case.

“They’re supposed to know him well. They play against him in the English premiership regularly,” said the Bok coach.

“I would think there was a lot of pressure on him last week already. The forwards did well to take some of that off Faf. There’s more pressure on everyone, including Faf, but he’s shown he can handle it.”

Ellis Park’s try-fest could be a bit of a rarity

Everybody loves attacking rugby and fans will definitely hope for a repeat of last week’s 10-try special at Ellis Park.

But there’s a lot at stake for both sides in this game and by design Test rugby isn’t really supposed to be so open.

It’s a disclaimer Erasmus has given to supporters too.

“I’m not sure if we’ll have a high-scoring game,” he said.

“Last week, the game opened up very early for some reason. We had to play catch-up and open up further. Normal Test rugby is a tight affair where you generally want to outmuscle each other and stop momentum of your opponents. This might be what we’re in store for but I can be wrong.”

How to handle the emotion of Beast’s 100th

Erasmus is not expecting his charges to be robots when they share in veteran prop Beast Mtawarira’s special milestone at the weekend.

All he wants is that they channel the emotions effectively.

“It’s impossible to keep the emotions away. It’s Beast’s 100th Test,” said Erasmus.

“It’s a reality, it’s huge. If a guy can handle that and still do his job, that’s the trick. We’re expecting that from all.”