Springboks pick dynamic half-backs for final Championship warm-up / Photo: PHILL MAGAKOE - AFP
Springboks pick dynamic half-backs for final Championship warm-up
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams can form a dynamic half-back partnership for South Africa when they complete their Rugby Championship build-up by tackling Georgia in Mbombela on Saturday.
Head coach Rassie Erasmus has chosen 46 players for four warm-up matches, with the first three against Italy (twice) and the Barbarians delivering a hat-trick of victories, 87 points and 21 tries.
The record four-time Rugby World Cup winners have notched 86 points in two previous wins over the Georgians and another convincing victory is anticipated in the one-off Test.
South Africa begin their defence of the Rugby Championship with two home matches in August against Australia. They then face arch rivals New Zealand twice on the road and Argentina at home and away.
Erasmus has rung the changes as he seeks greater Springbok depth, making five changes to the team after the BaaBaas match, 11 after the first Italy Test and 10 after the second.
"We never drop somebody in our team, we rotate," he told reporters ahead of the match at a 43,500-seat stadium in northeast South Africa built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The pairing of fly-half Feinberg-Mngomezulu and scrum-half Williams for the first time this season has triggered excitement as both are dynamic with ball in hand.
If the duo click, second-tier Georgia could face a challenging evening as the evolution of the Springboks continues with less reliance on the once favoured kick-and-chase approach.
Competition for the number 10 shirt is intense with Erasmus also starting famed goal-kicker Handre Pollard and creative Manie Libbok this season.
There are even more scrum-half candidates, including Williams, Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach, recent addition Morne van den Berg and currently out-of-favour Jaden Hendricks.
Erasmus craves versatility and what boosts Williams is his ability to also perform as a winger, which he did occasionally during the triumphant 2023 World Cup campaign in France.
- Adaptable -
Williams is far from alone in being adaptable in a team where inside centre Andre Esterhuizen was labelled a "hybrid player" by Erasmus after being deployed as a flanker against the Barbarians.
"Jesse (Kriel) can move from centre to the wing, Handre can move to centre, Sacha can move to centre or full-back," said the head coach.
"Take outside centre -- we have Jesse, Canan (Moodie), Ethan (Hooker), and Lukhanyo (Am) is set to return from injury. We want fierce competition for places ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia."
Georgia arrived in South Africa after suffering a 34-5 loss in Tbilisi to Ireland, who were lacking many stars on British and Irish Lions duty in Australia, but Erasmus is not underestimating the Lelos.
"We know how passionate this Georgian side is and we have chosen a blend of youth and experience to face them.
"Georgia are tough and proud of their physicality and brute force in the collisions. The set pieces, mauls and breakdowns will be key areas.
"They also have quality backline players so we must be sharp in all departments of our game to get the desired result and build momentum for the Rugby Championship," added Erasmus.
Georgia coach and former England hooker Richard Cockerill said he did not want the Test to become "a training session" for the Springboks.
"We cannot be timid. The only way for us to compete is to roll our sleeves up, stick our gumshields in and get stuck in," he added.
Cockerill has made one change to the team that started against Ireland with number 8 Ilia Spanderashvili replacing Tbilisi Test try scorer Tornike Jalagonia, who moves to the bench.
M.Russo--GdR
