Is Rassie Erasmus cooking up a surprise in the Springbok camp?
Rassie Eramus is well known for his tricks of the trade, and there is definitely a sense that something is brewing in the Springbok camp as they prepare to face Scotland on Sunday.
Already this week it was belatedly confirmed that the Springbok team won’t even be revealed on Thursday – as initially planned – but instead it’s been postponed to Friday (just before 16:00 SA Time). This stands in stark contrast to the usual policy of naming the team at the start of the week.
It will be interesting to hear from Erasmus on Friday why the announcement was delayed, which may well relate to one or two challenging selection decisions, or perhaps some injury concerns. Either way, they are keeping everyone guessing.
Perhaps with some mind games on the go, it was also noteworthy that Andre Esterhuizen and Makazole Mapimpi were put up for media duties on Wednesday.
The players who pitch up for press conferences in the week are almost always then set to feature in the weekend’s match, and so it will be very interesting to see if this does transpire.
If Esterhuizen and Mapimpi do feature on Sunday, it could mean that the Springboks are opting for a new-look and experimental outfit against Scotland.
Rassie Erasmus is set to name the Springbok team on Friday
Rassie Erasmus will only announce his Springbok match-day squad for the clash on Friday, but Esterhuizen said should he be in the mix, it would be an intense midfield battle with the Scottish team boasting quality centres in the likes of captain Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones.
“They are strong centres and great individual players – I’ve watched many games where they tore up defences,” said Esterhuizen.
“I obviously played with Hugh when I was at Harlequins, and Tuipulotu is a hard runner and good ball carrier, so the midfield battle will be big.”
Looking back at his days at Harlequins when they faced the Glasgow Warriors – who were crowned the United Rugby Championship winners last season – the powerful centre said although most of the players in Scotland’s national team were from the club, facing them at international level was a completely different challenge.
“Glasgow and Scotland are two different teams, and although their players make up the bulk of the Scottish team, when they put on this jersey the players have a different mentality, so we are expecting them to be very determined against us,” said Esterhuizen. “Obviously we are hoping to win the match, but we know it’s going to be a massive battle.”
The match kicks off at 18:10 on Sunday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
What is your score prediction for this Test?
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