Springbok fullback Damian Willemse says South Africa’s game plan won’t change much with Elton Jantjies running the show instead of Handre Pollard at flyhalf.
The Springboks play their first international match of the year at Loftus Versfeld against Wales on Saturday at 5.05pm in front of what is expected to be a sold-out crowd for the first time since they hosted Argentina at the same venue in 2019.
Needless to say, the Boks want to put on a show.
With regular flyhalf Handre Pollard only having joined the team this week, the onus falls on Jantjies to run the game for the world champs.
Up against a team that finished fifth in the Six Nations and also lost their last match to Italy, Willemse says Jantjies is the regte man for the job to get the Boks off to a winning start.
💥 The competition for places in the Springbok loose trio is as tough as it's ever been - more here: https://t.co/yNPvk0rxQV#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever pic.twitter.com/lKbtF0b38t
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 30, 2022
Asked if the change at 10 will impact their game, Willemse says: “Elton [Jantjies] is a different player to Handre [Pollard] and what he brings is a bit more of a tactical kicking game - he has different types of kicks.
“I think we’re going to stick to our game plan and the way we want to play the game. Elton and I have been training really well this week. I don’t want to give away too much, but with the tactics we have, I think Elton is going to be the man.
“He’s done it numerous times for us before. What he’s going to bring is a lot of tactical kicking and we’ll just play for spaces.”
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Willie le Roux
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar (captain), 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin.
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