Bok coach Rassie Erasmus believes Handré Pollard has the attributes best suited to starting Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks in Wellington.
Pollard reclaims the No 10 jersey from Elton Jantjies, who started against the Wallabies last Saturday and produced a solid performance as the Boks suffered a narrow defeat.
At Thursday’s team announcement ahead of the clash in New Zealand, Erasmus explained the thought process behind the selection at flyhalf.
‘Elton is a guy with wonderful vision and he can dictate a game really well, but Handré brings that physicality, that size, that direct play we need against the All Blacks.’
Erasmus has mostly kept changes to a minimum this week, and suggested that this was the strongest available team. He also indicated that plans for experimentation in selection were coming to an end.
‘I believe at the end of the Rugby Championship‚ we will stop with the experiments and measuring of players. On the end-of-the-year tour to Europe‚ we will pick our strongest possible side every time and try to win at all cost.’
PREVIEW: All Blacks vs Springboks
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
