The Springboks are now just a few weeks away from returning to action, with three more Tests in store for Rassie Erasmus and his world champions to negotiate this season.
After winning the Rugby Championship, the Springboks are now targeting an unbeaten run in November, and there are some big decisions that must be made.
THREE BIG CALLS FACING RASSIE ERASMUS ON THE SPRINGBOKS’ SEASON-ENDING TOUR
Who to start at flyhalf?
In a roundabout way, this decision has been made a bit easier due to the fact that talented youngster Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is unlikely to have recovered from injury in time to go on tour.
This leaves a straight shoot out between Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok, but that’s far from simple.
Libbok defied his critics with a stunning performance in the final Rugby Championship game, having been set free from the burden of goal-kicking.
If Jaden Hendrikse can continue to be trusted with this responsibility, then the Springboks may well be happy to continue with Libbok at 10 as they look to continue evolving their attacking play.
However, with conditions in the northern hemisphere unlikely to be favourable for running rugby, it may well make more sense to start with Handre Pollard, who is a flyhalf more suited to that type of attritional rugby.
How to integrate returning players and more ‘newcomers’
Over the course of the 2024 season, the Springboks have used used 49 players across 10 Tests, and 35 in the Rugby Championship alone.
It did enable the Springbok coaches to fulfil their goal of expanding their squad depth, but a number of top players will now be available once again.
RG Snyman, Edwill van der Merwe, Jean Kleyn and Damian Willemse have all recovered from serious injuries, while Faf de Klerk could also be back in contention.
It will require a delicate balancing act to bring these players back into the mix, while there are other rising stars such as Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom, who is surely back on the Springbok radar.
Erasmus will probably also have his eye on a couple of other ‘newcomers’, but fitting everyone into a squad of around 35 players will be no easy task.
Settling on best style of rugby
Interestingly, Erasmus has already said the Springboks might slightly alter their ambitions to play more expansively due to the fact that conditions in the northern hemisphere are likely to be unfavourable during their winter months.
“It’s getting better, but when we go there, we’ll pull back a little bit and that’s something we’ve done and we can do again,” Erasmus said.
“We can play a little bit more traditionally, something we’ve done in the Rugby World Cup finals and the British & Irish Lions games.
“We’re a team who can pull it back and even though it may be hard to go back to the exciting brand, I think we’re getting there.”
However, there is no doubt that the Springboks and attack coach Tony Brown will want to still continue fine-tuning their ball-in hand game that has begun to test teams in the wider channels.
HERE ARE ALL OF THE SPRINGBOKS’ END-OF-YEAR FIXTURES TO NOTE
- Sunday, 10 November: Scotland vs South Africa (18:10 SA time)
- Saturday, 16 November: England vs South Africa (19:40 SA time)
- Saturday, 23 November: Wales vs South Africa (19:40 SA time)
DO YOU THINK THE BOKS WILL GO UNDEFEATED ON THE END-OF-YEAR-TOUR?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this related article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news.
