The Springboks have named another powerful and experienced team for Saturday’s massive Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks in Paris.
 The reigning champions opted to start with the crunch Test with the seasoned halfback combination of Handré Pollard and Faf de Klerk, while also playing their ‘nuke squad’ which in the much talked about 7-1 split in the bench.
 Willie le Roux is the only backline player, but Kwagga Smith gets the added responsibility of covering at scrumhalf, should De Klerk and Cheslin Kolbe sustain an injury.
 The bench riders for this week that didn’t play in the 16-15 win over England in the semi-final are Jean Kleyn, Trevor Nyakane and Jasper Wiese.
 In addition, the hooker, Bongi Mbonambi, has been cleared of the racial slur allegations by the global governing body, World Rugby. They stated that there was insufficient evidence to back up the allegations by the England flanker, Tom Curry.

Siya Kolisi - Getty

The Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, who led the side to glory in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan, said this week’s encounter against the All Blacks is the biggest game of his life.
“We actually spoke about it yesterday. It's huge. We've prepared as hard as we can. We know what to expect. I don't think as a player it will ever get any bigger.
“They just turned it around quietly, behind the scenes they were doing their work and now they are here. We had to find our way too.
“The way that the coaches went the last year or so, we played over maybe 50 players to try and find the best."
“I don't think it's stuff that you can dream about because it doesn't happen often. I don't think it will happen in our lifetime again to have two teams like this.”
Meanwhile, there is some concern over the freshness of the Springboks as they looked tired and flat during last weeks’ outing against the English.
Many pundits feel that this was expected and believe that the Boks will be sharper and more intense this week.

Mark Andrews after the 1995 Rugby World Cup final 

The 1995 World Cup winning Springbok lock, Mark Andrews, told OFM Sport that it is a concern, but the adrenaline will take over on Saturday.
“They did look exhausted and they didn't look sharp,” said Andrews.
“But, finals are different things - when you play in a World Cup final you'll never experience a quicker 40 minutes in each half. That time honestly just flies.
“The adrenaline and the hype just seems to carry you along. We are actually physically and emotionally as tired as they look, I'm hoping not.
“I'm especially expecting our senior players to stabilise and start that fire upfront.”
Meanwhile, tomorrow night it’s a matter of the Bronze Final that will be contested between Argentina and England.
Saturday night’s big final between the Boks and All Blacks at Stade de France will kick-off at 21:00.

Morgan Piek OF Sport