The Springboks fell just short against the All Blacks at Eden Park, and there were a number of players who didn’t perform up to standard, while others actually impressed when coming off the bench, which would have certainly given Rassie Erasmus food for thought.
All considered, it’s likely that Willie le Roux will fall out of the starting line-up along with the likes of Grant Williams and Malcolm Marx.
Jasper Wiese should return at No 8, while Aphelele Fassi or Damian Willemse will start at 15. After impressing off the bench, Cobus Reinach may well start at scrumhalf, while Wilco Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels could come into the starting front row.
Interestingly, the Springboks team for the second Test against the All Blacks will be named on Monday morning (09:00 SA time).
Rassie Erasmus has admitted team changes are coming
Asked if there were positives they could take from the clash, Erasmus said it’s hard to take positives from a defeat.
“But I suppose the one positive is that we are still in the race for the Rugby Championship title, and if one looks at the match, we played badly for 15 minutes, and as the game progressed, we got better,” said the Bok coach.
“We are very disappointed, but we played the No 1 team in the world, and we have to put everything into trying to win next week.
“Before this game we thought we’d go with more or less the same team next week, but we’ll definitely make a few changes.”
WHAT TEAM CHANGES WOULD YOU MAKE?
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