GEORGIA WILL COME TO MBOMBELA TO...

KWAGGA Smith says the Springboks are out to trip Georgia se krag early in Saturday's 5.10pm Test match at Mbombela Stadium.

It will be only the second time in the two teams’ history that they tackle each other, after the Boks klapped the Lelos 40-9 in a 2021 encounter at Loftus.  

But although the Boks romped to victory, with starting fullback for Saturday's second clash, Apehelele Fassi making his debut and scoring of his first touch, Smith recalls the visitors remaining hardegat in that clash.  

Smith wysed: “The Georgians are hard people. They grew up in a rural country and they are strong, and they have a lot of passion, so they will come out [fighting].

“Everyone wants to measure themselves against the Springboks, so we know it is going to be a tough battle this weekend. They are one team that never steps back.

“It does not matter what the scoreboard reads, those guys will keep on fighting and keep on playing”

To breek them, Smith knows the battle at the breakdown will again be important. And after the Boks levelled up their dark arts in the 45-0 second Test win against Italy last week, Smith added that keeping that mindset against Georgia will be vital: “Our mindset against Italy in the first Test at Loftus was maybe not right, where we copped a [breakdown] beating. And obviously after a beating you go and rectify it, so it was better than the [previous] week.”

Meanwhile, fullback Fassi, wants to live up to his nickname as the “Weekend Special” when he faces the span where his Bok career started in 2021.

Fassi said: “I’m expecting a physical battle... in a Test match, you need to win certain battles and every battle that I try to put myself into is a battle I want to win… I like to play what’s in front of me, but at the same time [stay aware] of how the game is flowing.”