After a drawn series with Ireland, Rassie Erasmus now turns his attention to Portugal with the Europeans making the short trip across the Namibian border having just beaten the Welwitschias in a one off Test this past weekend.
South Africa v Portugal
Saturday 20 July 2024 | 17:00
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
The bookmakers have affixed a rather high handicap to this one. Find out why our scribe reckons the South Africans will still clear it below.
To Win Match
South Africa N/A | Draw 40/1 | Portugal 14/1
Handicap
South Africa (-34.5) 9/10 | Portugal (+34.5) 9/10
While the dramatic defeat to Ireland in Durban does throw something of a spanner in the works, the name of the game this Saturday will be for Rassie and his coaches to test depth as the Springboks build towards the short-term – this year’s Rugby Championship – as well as the long term – the next Rugby World Cup.
The above is evident when you look at the raft of changes that have been made to the Bok squad for this weekend with only Kurt-Lee Arendse retaining his starting spot from the side that lost 24-25 last weekend. Arendse is joined by Salmaan Moerat and RG Snyman as the only three players to feature against the Irish and also get a run against Portugal.
As expected, there are several players in line for debuts with seven likely to be capped. The debutants to get starts are the Bulls front row duo of Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Sharks flanker Phepsi Buthelezi. Meanwhile, Golden Lions prospects Quan Horn, Morne van den Berg, and Ruan Venter will join Stormers Andre-Hugo Venter as the uncapped players on the bench.
It’s not a wholly inexperienced ‘Bok outfit, however with World Cup winners Thomas du Toit, RG Snyman, Cobus Reinach, Mannie Libbok, Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am all getting starts.
Moving over to the Portuguese now, they were something of a revelation at last year’s World Cup, beating Fiji while drawing with Georgia and giving Australia and Wales a real run for their money. They’ve also head into this one off the back of a solid 22-37 victory over Namibia in Windhoek.
They do have some talented players in their squad as well with captain and centre (and dentist) Tomás Appleton one of the breakout stars at France 2023.
Verdict: South Africa (-34.5) 9/10
While Portugal are a gutsy side, I reckon they will struggle against a Bok outfit chock full of players with points to prove.
