There are only two changes to the Springbok squad to face the Wallabies in Brisbane, in their fourth-round Championship clash on Saturday.
Following last week’s 28-26 defeat to Australia, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has shown exactly why the Boks have risen to No 1 in the world rankings by refusing to panic.
After a lacklustre performance in Gold Coast, where the defence was passive and the discipline “poor”, Nienaber would have been within his rights to wield an axe to send a message to underperformers, if nothing else.
But the current Bok set-up is not about making decisions emotionally and reacting to every setback with panic. Yes, it was a poor performance against the Wallabies last week and yes, several players — notably flyhalf Handre Pollard and outside centre Lukhanyo Am — underperformed by their own high standards.
Yet the only changes to the side see lock Marvin Orie come in for the concussed Lood de Jager and prop Trevor Nyakane start at loosehead with Steven Kitshoff moving to the bench in a rotational switch. That means prop Ox Nche drops out of the 23 this week.
Star wing Cheslin Kolbe has only just started running after a leg injury…
