The Springboks have been rocked by injuries to several key players, piling pressure on the squad ahead of Saturday’s showdown. Chief among them is the loss of inspirational captain Siya Kolisi, the two-time World Cup winner ruled out for up to four weeks with a knee injury.
Head Coach Rassie Erasmus addressed all injury concerns by giving a full injury update on the current Springbok squad and praised the Wallabies breakdown performance as well:
Siya’s out with a (knee injury), Pieter Steph Du Toit (Concussion), Kurt Lee Arendse (knee) and Edwill Van der Merwe(ankle), Siya could miss 3 to 4 weeks.
Siya hurt his knee about 5 minutes from halftime and shortly after that Marco van Staden’s mouthguard pinged after which meant he needed to be assessed. Then Kwagga Smith had to come on, then Pieter Steph Du Toit had to go off concussed. The wallabies were really good at the breakdown and legally so. They really had our number there.
Coach Rassie then went on to explain who will take over the captaincy for this Saturday’s 2nd clash against the Wallabies in Cape Town at the DHL Stadium.
Jesse Kriel will take over the captaincy, although we like a forward to be Captain, Jessie will take over the captaincy. He has captained the side 3 or 4 times.
On the positive side, the Springboks will be lifted by the return of Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe, whose experience and flair add extra firepower to the squad.
The Springboks will need to find the balance and must go back to their strengths
The Boks suffered a humiliating 38-22 defeat at Ellis Park against the Wallabies in their opening Rugby Championship clash and faced criticism from fans and former players for being far too loose, overplaying at times, and running with the ball in hand from everywhere. This Saturday they will need to be more balanced in their approach and go back to their strengths that have worked in the past.
Coach Rassie admitted that they got the balance wrong:
I felt we were on the wrong side of balance but we hope to go back to our strengths. Our downfall was going 22 points up and then losing momentum from there. It’s very hard to win a test match when you don’t have momentum.
The Boks will have no choice but to go back to their strengths. This being the lineouts, scrums and in particular a weapon they haven’t used much this year and that is the rolling maul. Defence will also be another area they need to tighten up by making those one on one tackles and working on their line speed to shut off the wallabies’ dangerous ball carriers.
Correcting the wrongs and making up for the loss
The big halftime lead of 22-5 was a great start to the test match and the tempo of the game was fast but, unfortunately the Boks failed to score a single point in the 2nd half. They failed to control the game and that cost them dearly.
Coach Rassie went on to explain the disappointment and wanting to fix it this week.
Everyone in the group agrees on what we have to do and what we need to get right this week and our focus goes into that at training. There is still a lot of frustration and disappointment but we know what we did wrong, they totally outplayed us, they scored some tries that weren’t even from phases, and they gave us a hiding at the breakdown. We have our backs against the walls.
This Saturday, the Boks will need a full 80-minute performance, staying focused from start to finish, as the Wallabies aim to make history by defeating South Africa in Cape Town for the first time in nearly three decades. They will also be eager to prove that their opening victory at Ellis Park was no fluke. Coach Rassie Erasmus is set to announce his 23-man squad on Tuesday, with some expected changes to both the starting lineup and the bench.
