The Springboks have started the season with predictably emphatic wins over the Barbarians and Italy (twice), but it shouldn’t be forgotten that they have one more ‘warm-up’ game of sorts against Georgia this Saturday before they kick off their Rugby Championship title defence.
This Saturday’s clash against Georgia at Mbombela Stadium will offer one last opportunity for Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus to experiment with some selections, tactics and combinations.
There could also be an opportunity for some more Test debuts to be handed out to the likes of Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouche, while Siya Kolisi could be afforded some game-time after recovering from injury.
The Springboks’ clash against Georgia will kick off at 17:10
After this weekend’s encounter, the Springbok players will be given a few days off before a reduced squad of 35 will be named for the start of the build up to the Rugby Championship.
“We are fairly happy,” Erasmus commented after the 45-0 victory over Italy on Saturday. “The Barbarians game we didn’t concede a lot of points in a tough rainy game there – we got a 50 there, we got 42 last week and 45 here, and only conceded 24 points against Italy and, overall, a lot of the guys got caps.
“So, hopefully after the Georgia game a lot of the guys will have had two caps, and we will have won all four matches, and we can pick a nice settled, balanced team for the Rugby Championship.”
What team do you expect Rassie to select this week?
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