The Springboks are back in Bloemfontein for the first time in four years with the second Test against Wales being played on Saturday.

Nyakane spent a good deal of this career in Bloemfontein and has since played for the Sharks, while now he plies his trade at Racing92 in France.

Nyakane was set to play against England in Bloemfontein in 2018, however, he was ruled out of the Test after breaking his ribs during training.

Nyakane who will be starting at tighthead prop of the weekend explained that there is a good reason they call Bloemfontein ‘die begraafplaas’.

“Along with Pretoria and Johannesburg, this is one of the hardest places to play,” said Nyakane who earned his stripes in Bloemfontein at the Central University of Technology Ixias and Cheetahs.

“It is hard to breathe, it feels dry, it feels like there is not enough oxygen. It is difficult to play in Bloem and when I was with the Cheetahs, we always knew it was tougher for the visiting teams.

“That is why we called it the ‘begraafplaas’ because it is so hard to play here.

“It is a different ball game here in Bloem and we know it so well, so that is why we came here early,” “I don’t know why Wales have stayed in Johannesburg, they obviously have their reasons.

“But I know we will be as acclimatised as possible and able to execute what we want to execute.”

Saturday’s Test at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 17:05.

Springboks - 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphelele Fassi, 10 Handré Pollard (captain), 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements - 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport