Townsend: Scaling 'Mount Springbok' is the pinnacle of the game
SPOTLIGHT: Taking on the game’s top-ranked team on their home turf is already a gigantesque task.
That is what is facing Scotland coach Gregor Townsend and his team at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
Townsend described facing the world champions in South Africa as the “biggest challenge” in the game.
Having ‘recovered well’ from the 10-hour flight from Argentina to South Africa, after a thrilling 47-38 win over Los Pumas, Townsend’s charges are now gearing up for an attempt to ‘scale the summit’ of the game.
The encounter at Loftus Versfeld is a ‘new experience’ for the entire squad.
“From our perspective, no one in our group has played South Africa for Scotland away from home,” the coach told a media briefing.
“It’s a unique opportunity for us, obviously the biggest challenge in world rugby.”
Townsend said everybody in the game knows the Bok ‘identity’ and they are ‘very good’ at what they are doing.
“It’ll be a great marker of where we are and where we need to go following this game,” he added.
Following the Round Two Nations Cup encounter with the Springboks, Scotland is scheduled to play Fiji in the last of their July fixtures.
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Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus made 10 changes to his starting team for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Scotland in Pretoria.
“They change their team pretty regularly,” the Scottish coach said, adding: “It changes all the time, and they change their pack during games.
“I guess this team, or close to this team, has trained together over the last few weeks.”
He dismissed the flight from South America to Africa as a factor, saying his players have become accustomed to travelling to the Republic in the United Rugby Championship.
“The players are so good now at recovering, and our evidence is how they train.
“They are in a good space and enjoying being in [their training base] in Johannesburg.”
With URC semifinal adversaries, Glasgow Warriors and the Bulls, making up the bulk of the two Test teams, he said the Loftus factor is the biggest ‘complication’.
“For them [the Bulls players] to play at their home ground for the national team will be a massive boost.
“We know how strong rugby is in South Africa, the depth [they have].
“However, the power of that Green and Gold jersey means they will play much better than when they are at club [franchise] level.
“The Bulls did very well in that semifinal.
“Whatever Bok team we come up against, it will be one of the best in the world, and they show every time they play that they are the best team.
“You know the type of rugby they will play, and it is very effective in getting results.”
He also felt the selection of Handre Pollard at flyhalf, ahead of last week’s star No.10 Manie Libbok, does not signal a change in approach by the Boks.
“How we play will factor into their preparation, and how they can impose their game [on us].
“Handre [Pollard] has played several times in that No.10 jersey and has been in a lot of winning teams.
“We felt that change might have come and it is an opportunity [for Bok coach Rassie Erasmus] to freshen things up.”
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