Romania can expect no mercy from the South Africans – Springbok bosses Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will ensure their players keep the focus and stick to the squad’s high standards.
This week should be one of relative respite for the Springboks at the World Cup but that doesn’t mean they will take their foot off the gas against Romania in Bordeaux on Sunday (kick-off 3pm).
Pool B is quite rightly referred to as the ‘Group of Death’, with Ireland and Scotland rivalling the Boks for top honours in the group, while a Tonga side boosted by some former All Blacks and Wallabies will be no pushovers.
That means the poor Romanians are the whipping boys of the pool and after Ireland put 80 points past them at the weekend, the confidence of the eastern Europeans will be shot.
And they can expect no mercy from the South Africans – Bok bosses Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will ensure their players keep the focus and stick to the squad’s high standards.
This round two match also allows Nienaber to spread game-time across the whole 32-man group and the players coming in for their first World Cup action will be anxious to impress.
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“We’ll treat the match against Romania as we do every other game,” Bok assistant coach Felix Jones said in Toulon yesterday.
“The most important thing is to give ourselves an opportunity to win the match and then we’ll see how things pan out.
“The Romanian coach spoke directly to their fans at home after their last match and said they wanted to make their nation proud,” Irishman Jones continued.
“They are a passionate team and they won’t take a step back in their physicality.
“They also have good backs and an impressive distance kicking game, so they pose plenty of threats.”
The Boks hit the ground running on Sunday with an impressive 18-3 defeat of a dangerous Scotland team, but Jones said there were areas they wanted to improve for the rest of the campaign.
The #Springboks are looking to build momentum following their victory over Scotland 🗣#StrongerTogether #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/FzC129WznI
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 12, 2023
“I don’t think any coach or player will be completely happy with a performance,” said Jones.
“As a team, you want to improve every week, but in general I believe we are moving in the right direction.”
Nienaber will name his matchday squad for Romania tonight and Jones confirmed that player workload will be a priority.
He added that centre Jesse Kriel was available for selection as he was not cited for a possible head-clash tackle against Scotland.
“One of the big focus areas for us this year has been to manage player load,” said Jones.
“Obviously, we want to win every week, but we have a quality squad in which the players are pushing one another for places, so we may make a few rotations.
“It’s important for us to balance the load, so should we progress in the competition we have a squad that is match-fit, which will allow us to call on any player at any time when we need them.”
The opening week of the World Cup was action-packed and Jones said some of the results proved that it would be a thrilling tournament.
“One could certainly see the competitiveness of the Rugby World Cup coming out in the first round,” said Jones.
“Our match (against the Scots) could have gone either way at a point, and the match between Wales and Fiji, as well as the game between England and Argentina, were outstanding for the tournament and the spectators.
“In general, it was a great opening round for the World Cup,” he added.
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