Rassie Erasmus, renowned for his playful antics in the international rugby world, seldom disappoints when it comes to shaking up the anticipation ahead of a Test match as the head coach of South Africa. He recently expressed his thoughts on social media platform X (previously known as Twitter) about the Test match coming up next week. His tweet featured flags of South Africa and Ireland, referring to the event as “an epic class”.
He went on to predict the probable line-up for the Ireland team, including replacements, that Andy Farrell, his opposite number, could field in the first Test at Loftus Versfeld on the forthcoming Saturday, scheduled for 4.0pm Irish time. Ages and weights of all the Irish squad members were also mentioned in his posts, albeit with a few misspelled names, which included “Dan Sheenan”, “Tadgh Furlong”, “MCMcarthy”, “Tadgh Byrne”, “Gary Ringrose”, “Ryan Bird”, and “Nick Tomoney”. The thoughtfully correct spelling of some of the complex Irish monikers enhanced the post’s intentional mischief.
The South African coach included additional information in a subsequent tweet, stating that Robbie Henshaw may be among the substitutes if Ireland opts for a 5-3 layout. He offered further comparison across parameters of caps, ages, and weights, labeling it as “small margins”, expressing that the Irish side are younger and heavier as per his analysis.
In other significant news from the Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport, was the confirmed fitness of Willie Le Roux. Having healed from a concussion he suffered in the URC semi-final against Leinster, he’s now ready for play. This setback had resulted in him missing the Bulls’ loss to Glasgow in the finals and the Springboks’ win over Wales at Twickenham.
While Erasmus’s preference for fullback reportedly leans towards Le Roux, despite Aphelele Fassi’s commendable performance in the Wales match, concerns persist over Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe, the try scorers in the victory in London, nursing minor injuries. However, this concern will likely be eased by the expected fitness of first-choice wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
There are speculations that Erasmus may favour a five-three split in the bench for the forthcoming team announcement this Tuesday. This decision is primarily due to recurring injury worries pertaining to the back three as well as a minor concern related to scrumhalf Faf de Klerk’s health – though it is expected he’ll recover in time to commence the game in Pretoria.
Ireland’s team has been diligently training at St Peter’s College in Johannesburg, with sessions taking place from Thursday to Saturday. The squad indulged in a rest day on Sunday afterwards. Each of the 35 athletes on the tour have taken part in full training and currently, there are no reports of injuries. Come Monday morning, their preparation on the pitch continues in earnest. The team that will confront the Springboks will be declared by Andy Farrell this coming Thursday.