The Springboks may have walked away with a narrow 31-27 point win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday, but it was hardly the polished performance that would leave one feeling comfortable leading into the return fixture in Cape Town. An immense battle unfolded and the All Blacks were in control for all but 13 minutes of the test, something that will definitely have Dr. Erasmus and Co standing up and taking notice.
The Boks featured a really inexperienced 10/15 combo in Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Aphelele Fassi, in a move that will have paid huge dividends for the men in Green & Gold in the long run. Whilst the pressure piled on by the All Blacks early will have given these youngsters loads of experience in what to expect at the highest level of the game, the ever astute Rassie will know that these guys also need to be managed properly at this juncture of their careers.
Whilst there were notable absentees in the engine room, causing a late in the week reshuffle of the bench to include Eben Etzebeth, Ruan Nortje can be very proud of his shift in the number 5 jersey. With RG Snyman likely to be fit again, a reshuffle here is also likely ahead of the rematch. Allowing Pieter-Steph to free himself up on the side of the scrum so that he can rattle Jordie's rib cage a little better will go a long way to quelling that momentum that they got in the first 40 too.
Whilst not yet officially confirmed, the Springboks will likely have their hands forced with at least two changes to the starting XV as Siya Kolisi and Kurt-Lee Arendse are likely to be unavailable after each suffering severe head knocks during the game. Kurt-Lee will have to undergo return to play protocols which will rule him out, whilst Siya looks to have suffered a fracture of some sort that could see him ruled out for longer if it is indeed the case.
Common sense would say, don't fix what isn't broken. Rassie will tell you that common sense didn't win us back to back World Cups, and ever the innovator that he is, we are likely to see some tweaks to the match 23 for this one.
Kick off is at 17:00 at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town with a shot at finally winning back the Freedom Cup and the chance to all but wrap up the Rugby Championship title too. Here's a look at the 23 I expect to do battle against the All Blacks this weekend.
Ox Nche
Bongi Mbonambi
Frans Malherbe
Eben Etzebeth
RG Snyman
Marco van Staden
Pieter-Steph Du Toit
Jasper Wiese
Cobus Reinach
Handre Pollard
Makazole Mapimpi
Damian De Allende
Jesse Kriel
Cheslin Kolbe
Willie Le Roux
Malcolm Marx
Gerhard Steenekamp
Vincent Koch
Ruan Nortje
Elrigh Louw
Kwagga Smith
Grant Williams
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
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