why South Africa decided to postpone the announcement of its team composition

By Ar. C.

Published 18 minutes ago, Updated now

Rassie Erasmus, the South African coach. CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is waiting to see what the composition of the French XV will be before revealing his own.

Generally during this Rugby World Cup, South Africa announced its team composition four days before playing its matches, whereas it can normally do so 48 hours before playing. Change of program for the explosive quarter-final against the XV of France, Sunday (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France. “The decision to delay announcing our team roster is undoubtedly tactical“, explained South African coach Rassie Erasmus. “We watched and analyzed our matches from last year and we saw that in almost every position, we have two players who are almost equally good.»

The main question concerning the composition of the Boks concerns the position of opener where Handré Pollard, recently returned to the group, and Manie Libbok, not very successful against the poles, are in balance. “In some cases we don’t even know which one is better, so we’re keeping our options open for a seven-one split of our substitutes bench. (seven forwards, one rear)six-two or five-three.» And added: “With Handre (Pollard) and Manie (Libbok) available, and Lukhanyo (Am) fully fit, we have sort of made our decision. We also want to see what the French team will look like. This could also have an influence on our move to a seven-one or six-two bench.

Rugby World Cup: photos from Le Figaro

Access the slideshow (34)

”
data-script=”
>