The Springboks are flying blind ahead of their season opener against the Barbarians at Cape Town Stadium next Saturday.
The Baabaas are yet to announce their full squad of players for the match, with only a handful of players confirmed.
All Blacks Sam Cane and Shannon Frizell will renew their rivalry with the Boks, while Irish legends Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray will also grace the field at the iconic former 2010 FIFA World Cup venue.
Normally, Rassie Erasmus and his coaching staff would also have some sort of idea how the opposition will play, having watched footage of the team. But how Robbie Deans’ team will play is anyone’s guess at this point.
Normally the Barbarians are a team who likes to give the ball some air and play exciting running rugby with the odd trick play of set pieces.
Analysing the opposition is something Erasmus prides himself on. He likes the finer details and always wants to be well-prepared. But now he can just focus on getting his team ready for the match and for the players to try and limit their mistakes next Saturday.
“We are a team that likes to analyse the opposition. We always do that and Felix plays a massive role in that, especially in finding out what the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses are,” Erasmus said this week.
“We can’t do this with a Barbarians team, but there are also individuals we know, although they will be very late with announcing some of the individuals that will play for them,” Erasmus said.
“The thing is, when they get together, you tell them to play what they see and be entertaining. If you give them bad kicks they will rip you apart. We will try and play really structured in our way and try to get through the game without any mental scars, because that is something that happens if you are in the Barbarian mindset.”
While the match should be a walk in the park for the world champions, Erasmus is not taking the Barbarians lightly, especially after he coached the team to victory over Argentina in 2018.
The experience and quality the likes of O’Mahony, Murray and Cane will bring to the party is definitely something that the Bok coach is concerned about.
“A lot of people will assume that, but it would be a slap in the face to those teams. I coached the Barbarians in 2018 when they beat Argentina, and we had a lot of Springbok players in that side,” said Erasmus.
“The names I am seeing in this Barbarians team is really going to be a great test for us. It will be tough enough and it is in Cape Town, so there is no altitude that would favour us.
IOL Sport
