The Springboks will announce their 33-member squad for the World Cup on Tuesday and from now on the focus is purely on their title defence.

The Boks have adopted a mindset of knockout rugby for the World Cup and with Ireland and Scotland in their group it will be massive task to advance to the next stage.

The Scottish fired a big warning shot on the weekend when they beat the host nation and now the world’s third ranked team, France, 25-21.

The Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, said is exactly why it was important to give all the players some game time.

“We are going to be in knockout rugby from game one. Scotland is the most important game for us and we have to make sure that we peak against them,” said Nienaber.

“As we have said from the start Scotland is going to be a massive game for us.

“Like they showed with a red card they put France to the sword.

“It was maybe a bit of a rotational side that France put out, but it was still a good showing from Scotland and we have to be prepared for that.

“This is why it was so important to get everyone a bit of game time and not just have them training.

“I think now the majority of the guys have some good minutes in them and we are comfortable with where they are in terms of game readiness”

The Springboks will depart for Cardiff on Saturday ahead of their two warm-up games against Wales and the All Blacks.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport