RUGBY NEWS - The Springboks have opted to build on the momentum gained from their big 66-7 Nations Championship win over Italy in Turin, by making minimal changes to their match 23 for their monster clash against France at the Stade de France in Stade Denis on Friday night.
Just one player change has been made to the match day squad, with experienced scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, who spent half a decade playing for French giants Montpellier, coming onto the bench in place of Grant Williams who drops out.
In the starting side there is also a change, with Wilco Louw coming into the front row, while Thomas du Toit shifts to the bench.
Forward driven game
Louw slotting into the run on team isn’t a surprise, as the French are known for their powerful forward driven game, and Bok coach Rassie Erasmus explained that even though it was sort of a short turnaround, from a Saturday game to a Friday night one, the players were still fresh and ready.
“I don’t think it was the most physical game (against Italy). Half the squad’s minutes also aren’t bad, specifically our Japanese based players, so they are fairly fresh,” said Erasmus at Monday’s team announcement.
“Not everyone played the full 80 minutes (over the weekend). We have also been managing certain players’ minutes like Damian de Allende and Damian Willemse.
“So we don’t feel the (Italy) game was that taxing, and we played at one in the afternoon and flew straight to France from Italy. The French team played at nine (that night). So people say it is a six day turnaround, but since we are playing at nine (on Friday night) it is almost a seven day turnaround.
“We felt the guys were nicely in sync for a team that hasn’t played (together) a lot (recently). Also from what we have analysed from the French and the team we are expecting them to select, we think this is the best possible team to challenge them.”
Unlucky players
Erasmus admitted that a few players were unlucky to miss out on selection, and said that most of the extended squad were ready to go, which could see one or two changes for next week’s game against Ireland, if the Boks beat France.
“Some players were unlucky and just missed out. It was tough to drop Grant (Williams) for Cobus (Reinach). We were considering (Nthuthuko) Mchunu, Eben (Etzebeth) is back with us, but we weren’t sure if he would get through today’s training.
“Salmaan (Moerat) still has back spasms. Putting Riley (Norton) into a game like this is kind of a big step up. Emmanuel (Tshituka) is certainly knocking on the door, along with Marco (van Staden) and Zach (Porthen). So we think our selection is calculated and we aren’t taking any risks.”
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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