Boks ready to put the heat on Argentina
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok forwards coach Deon Davids said his team has quickly shifted their focus to the Rugby Championship after their 2-1 series triumph over the British and Irish Lions.
South Africa clinched the series with a 19-16 win in the third Test on Saturday. However, celebrations were cut short as they now face a different challenge in the form of Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this coming weekend.
“The players understand the importance of this competition,” said Davids.
“We are the defending champions. We would like to defend the title successfully.
“I am really satisfied with how the players take responsibility and react in terms of the challenges that lie ahead.
“Although some players are not starting, they do their best to try and help prepare the players that are going to play on game day.
“Having that environment and open-mindedness approach on and off the field helps a lot in creating the right mindset in training and preparation for the rest of the week.”
Twelve years, worth the wait.🇿🇦💪#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #CastleLionsSeries pic.twitter.com/vLLxxIvS4l
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 9, 2021
Bok changes
After a gruelling and highly physical series against the B&I Lions, the Boks are set to rest several of their key players for Saturday’s match.
“It is obviously things that we consider. We are only a third of the way into our season.
“We come from a very competitive series and there are a lot of guys who performed well and guys who got an opportunity.
“The performance of the players, the workload of the players, the teams that we play and injuries are all things that play an important role in our consideration.
“Those are things that we looked at at the start of the season. We have looked at different scenarios that might happen in the series and then how things will unfold from that into the Championship and later into our end-of-year tour.
“Taking all those factors into consideration, it obviously brings us to certain decisions and as for this week we will consider all that. Whether it’s player rotation, whether it’s continuing with players based on their performance or whether it’s building more depth in the squad or certain challenges.”
David’s confirmed that prop Ox Nche has returned to training after suffering a neck injury in the first Test.
Other injured players such as Faf de Klerk, Duane Vermeulen and Pieter-Steph du Toit are all undergoing medical assessments.
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