Rassie: Boks dare to believe
ERASMUS: WE ALL RECKON WE HAVE AN EQUAL CHANCE
Coach sticks with same 23 that did duty against Japan.
For the Springboks it’s all about belief going into their crunch World Cup opener against defending champions New Zealand in Yokohama on Saturday, according to national coach Rassie Erasmus.
Erasmus unveiled the same match-23 yesterday who beat Japan 41-7 two weeks ago, and it was the first time since the 2015 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at Twickenham that the side had gone unchanged.
“The belief that we can beat them is there and obviously they will have the same belief,” Erasmus said.
“There were stages in the past where SA teams would run on to the field thinking it would be really tough to win this game, but we reckon we have an equal chance.”
Barring the return of captain Siya Kolisi from a knee injury, after he replaced Kwagga Smith, it was also the same match-day squad who held New Zealand to a 16-16 draw in Wellington in the recent Rugby Championship.
There was a slight concern over prop Trevor Nyakane, who was included on the bench after he picked up a knee injury against Japan and then flew home briefly to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.
“It was a bit of a worry to keep 100% tabs on that. Can he run and is he ready to return to play?” Erasmus said.
“But when he returned I could see he was ready and we are happy he is back.”
No 8 Duane Vermeulen is set to earn his 50th cap, while there were three other half-centurions (Willie le Roux, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth) in the starting team and a further three on the bench (Tendai Mtawarira, Francois Louw and Frans Steyn).
“We thought we would stick to a winning combination and sometimes those guys finishing a game are more important than the guys starting,” Erasmus said.
“We all know New Zealand are one of the fittest teams in the world and one of the best, and we all know them in the last 10-15 minutes, when they increase the tempo.”