Best of the best
Battle of wits between Erasmus and Wales’ coach Gatland
SOUTH Africa’s head coach Rassie Erasmus is regarded by many as a tactical genius, but even he is feeling the pressure that a Rugby World Cup semifinal brings.
After some anxious deliberations, South Africa’s coach has stuck with his ploy of having six replacement forwards to call on for the semifinal against Wales.
I’ve definetly taken a few sleeping tablets a few nights to make sure if it’s the right call or not.
Bench split an issue for Rassie Erasmus
The coach’s biggest concern has been the composition of the Springboks replacements bench for the showdown with Wales in Yokohama on Sunday.
To add to his worries, hot-stepping winger Cheslin Kolbe is unavailable due to an ankle injury, so S’busiso Nkosi will wear the No 14 jersey.
Without the versatile Kolbe, his decision to once again opt for six forwards and just two backs among the replacements is a bigger risk than usual.
“I’ve definitely taken a few sleeping tablets for a few nights to make sure if it’s the right call or not,” Erasmus said.
“It is a bit of a chance you are taking, but there have been many games which were close games, where you sit with an extra backline player, and you don’t use him.
“We’ve worked out scenarios. That is why Frans Steyn and Herschel Jantjies are versatile.
“We can use them in a few positions, and Willie (le Roux) can play on the wing, Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am have played wing, Handre Pollard has played at inside-centre. But it’s certainly not risk-free.
“We see this as having a fresh tight five for 80 minutes on the field, which helps you both on attack and defence and closing up holes, which would be a major challenge for us against very well organised and experienced, big backline players, which the Welsh team have.
“We just feel, when we put those extra six forwards on, it lifts our defensive system, and it obviously helps us when we have the ball, in size and having fresh guys.”
Springboks aim to go all the way
South Africa have lost their past four tests against Wales, but Erasmus believes it will be different this time. For those defeats, he was unable to select his strongest team due to the matches being played outside the international window.
“We expect and want to go all the way and try to win the World Cup. We know it’s a tough challenge, and Wales, England and New Zealand want to do it.
“They are all ranked higher than us and have great coaches and players.
“But we feel we’ve got as good a chance as those other teams. I don’t know who the favourites are, as we believe we can beat them, and they will fully believe that they can beat us. So, that makes for an entertaining game come Sunday.”
SOUTH Africa faces their bogey team of the last few years - Wales - in the second semi-final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup today.
Wales’ head coach Warren Gatland and his men were dealt a Rugby World Cup hammer blow before tonight’s semifinal against South Africa with star fullback Liam Williams ruled out for the rest of the tournament through injury.
Gatland named Leigh Halfpenny as his replacement on Friday after Williams damaged his ankle in a collision during training in midweek.
Williams, who has 62 caps for Wales, has no chance of returning in time for the final against New Zealand or England should the Six Nations champions overcome the Springboks in Yokohama this weekend.
The Springboks, too, were hit with an injury. Talisman Cheslin Kolbe was ruled out through injury, forcing the Springboks to replace him on the wing with S’Bu Nkosi.
Kolbe hobbled off after twisting an ankle in the 49-3 pool win against Italy and was in discomfort again in the quarter-finals, when South Africa broke the hearts of host nation Japan.
“It’s a big blow because everybody knows his quality and the contribution he makes,” South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said Thursday.
While South Africa, whose only win over Wales in their last six meetings came in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals, will miss Kolbe’s explosiveness, Erasmus was quick to point out that Nkosi was no slouch, with eight tries in ten Tests to his name.
Wales vs South Africa: Rugby World Cup kick-off time and prediction
Kick off time: Steady away with things kicking off at 10:00 SAST on Sunday 27 October 2019. All the action is live on SuperSport 1.
For the RWC, we’ll be using a prediction algorithm from a New Zealand anorak.
Prediction: The algortihm favours the Boks, by a marginal 11 points.
Teams: Wales (15-1) Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Ross Moriarty, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Wainwright; Alun Wyn Jones, Jake Ball; Tomas Francis, Ken Owens, Wyn Jones. Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Adam Beard, Aaron Shingler, Tomos Williams, Rhys Patchell, Owen Watkin South Africa (15-1): Willie Le Roux; S’Busiso Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Duane Vermeulen, PieterSteph Du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt); Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Mbongeni Mbonambi, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn