Last week against the Barbarians, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu started in the number ten jersey, with Manie Libbok coming on as a replacement. 

While both delivered solid performances during the 54–7 win in wet conditions in Cape Town, Erasmus pointed out that the clash against Italy will be played at a much higher intensity.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Photo: Morgan Piek

Erasmus emphasised Pollard’s experience, adding that there’s a clear plan to rotate the backline generals across the next three Tests.

“You know, Handré has done the job for us so many times, and Sacha was playing at home in a Barbarians match,” said Erasmus.

“But Handré is 31 now, and look, Jonny Sexton was 38 when he played his last World Cup. So Handré’s still got a lot left in the tank. We believe he can go to the next World Cup.

“Mannie is also part of the mix, so we’d like to rotate those three flyhalves as much as we can. And Gaza (Damian Willemse) is covering ten for us on Saturday with the 6-2 bench split.

“I think what you’ll see, hopefully, is that if we keep momentum, we’ll rotate between the three. But it’s difficult to make changes when you’re not building momentum. 

“There will also be times when we’ll want to keep some continuity.” 

Manie Libbok. Photo: Morgan Piek

Erasmus added that the upcoming three Tests offer a great opportunity to assess players before a break ahead of the Rugby Championship.

“There’s about a month between the Georgia match and the start of the Rugby Championship, so match fitness won’t be too much of a concern. What we’re aiming for now is to get game time, earn some caps, settle combinations, and bring guys back from injury or suspension.

“There are players like Lood de Jager who were out due to illness, so it’s also about reintegrating guys like that, and giving some of the new caps a go.

Damian Willemse. Photo: Morgan Piek

“I think across these next three matches, we’ll rotate quite a bit at flyhalf.”

Saturday’s Test between the Springboks and the Azzurri kicks off at 17:10.

Springboks - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché

Replacements - 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux

Italy - TBA

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh