Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids revealed that lock Eben Etzebeth, who was ruled out of last week’s match due to a knee injury, has been declared fit and will be considered for selection against Ireland.
“We said initially that Eben would be out for seven to 10 days, and he’s recovered well and is reacting well to training, so he’ll be up for selection,” said Davids.
Looking ahead at Saturday’s match, Davids said: “Ireland are the No 1 team in the world and you don’t get there if you don’t perform well. They are well coached, and have a good attack and defensive system, so we have to be on par in all departments of our game if we want to get a good result this weekend.”
Erasmus, who spent two years in Ireland coaching Munster, echoed these sentiments: “We know what we have to do if we want to beat Ireland. We have to knuckle down, and give everything because they have a good attacking and defensive game and technically they are very sound.”
When quizzed about whether there could be surprises in their team selection this week with some suggesting that Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber could opt for only one or even no backline replacements on the bench, Erasmus said: “I don’t think we can go with an 8-0 split, but a seven-one split is definitely an option. A lot of teams are doing innovative things and sometimes they are doing things that was done many years ago, and people think it’s innovative.”
With the Ireland and the Springboks being tipped as the favourites in the pool to advance to the quarter-finals, Erasmus said the result of this match could have big implications for either side going into their final pool match.
“Scotland was a slippery game for us, and we knew it would be close,” said Erasmus.
“This game is very important for both teams. If things don’t go well for us, it makes the match against Tonga extremely important, and on the reverse side, if it doesn’t go well for Ireland then it makes their match against Scotland vital. So, we have to improve in every game we play.”
The Springboks will return to the training field on Tuesday to begin their preparations for the match.
