While a the Springboks will rest many of their star players this weekend following bruising Test matches against Ireland, assistant coach Deon Davids emphasised the importance of a clinical performance against tier-two outfit Portugal.
The Springboks tasted defeat for the first time since the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup when they went down 25-24 to the Irish at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
The Irish matched the Springboks’ physicality and made to great start to the Test match. They then produced two drop goals late in the second half to sink the world champions.
The Springboks are looking to bounce from the defeat to Ireland by giving Portugal a proper hiding. But they are also looking at the fringe players put their hands up and to produce a performance to build towards the Rugby Championship.
“As a team we pride ourselves on the standards we’ve set, and for our respect for the opposition, no matter which team we face,” said Davids.
“Having looked back at our performance last week, we need to be more focused going into this game and play the quality of rugby we want to play.”
While the Springboks are expected to win comfortably in Bloemfontein this weekend, Portugal are certainly no pushovers.
Portugal managed 18-18 draw against the physical Georgians, who beat Japan over the weekend, at the World Cup and stunned the rugby world when they beat World Cup quarter-finalist Fiji 24-23 in the pool stages in 2023.
Portugal also saw off Allister Coetzee’s Namibia 37-22 in a Test match in Windhoek over the weekend and will be eager to have a crack at the world champions.
“Portugal beat Fiji in the World Cup, so they are no pushovers,” said Davids.
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“They like to move the ball around a lot and their head coach [Simon Mannix] has a New Zealand background, which says a lot about the way they want to play, so it will be important to keep them at bay, to dominate on attack and defence, and deny them momentum. We want to play the match on our terms.”
“They will be highly motivated to show that they can play well and perform at this level, and they certainly won’t need more motivation knowing that they will be facing the world champions.
“They also have a good support base in Bloemfontein and will want to make the most of the occasion of playing in front of a sold-out stadium, so it’s going to be a good test for both teams.
“They beat Namibia on Saturday, who have a good coaching team, so it won’t be a case of us pitching up and winning the match. We have to deliver a quality performance and give our best for the full 80 minutes.”
Davids expanded on Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus’ comments on Sunday that they would look to release a few players on Wednesday afternoon to rest and recover before the Rugby Championship, which kicks off against Australia in August, saying they’ll try to strike a fine balancing act in terms of team selection this weekend.
“We have a clear strategy about where we are as a team now and what we need to do going forward, so there are two key factors for us this week, and those are managing the players and building squad depth,” said Davids.
“We have a tough and long season so it’s vital that we manage the players effectively, but we also want to build squad depth for the future, so we’ll probably try to balance those aspects as well as possible this week.”
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