Boks to keep French guessing until Friday

The news that the Springboks will only name their side for Sunday’s crunch Rugby World Cup quarterfinal against France on Friday morning only means that they will continue to keep the tournament hosts guessing.

The Boks have made it a habit of naming their side early in the week, usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the day of the game, and usually have no qualms with naming a side four days before the clash.

While traditionally coaches are circumspect in naming sides ahead of time, and most decide to try and keep the opposition guessing by naming it as late as allowed by tournament officials, the Boks have never seen this as an obstacle.

But as they move to Paris to start the knockout stages, travelling on Monday and training for the first time on Tuesday the team will already be known internally as they would have told players on Sunday already.

And by keeping it out of the public eye until Friday, it plays into the mind games around the massive match where the World Cup holders are going in as underdogs against the tournament favourites.

Of course, the Boks had plenty to chew on over the past week where they waited to see the outcome of the final round of group matches while they waited patiently in their Toulon base for confirmation of their quarterfinal opponents.

And the questions that will remain in the heads of Fabien Galthie’s coaching team will be surrounding who starts at 10, the make-up of the Bok bench and some key decisions around the balance in the match day 23.

BOMB SQUAD SPLIT?

Will Damian Willemse continue in the starting role, or will 90-test veteran Willie le Roux be back for the match? Pollard or Libbok both have their supporters and doubters and depending on what the Boks have in mind for the game plan, the choice there will be watched with intense scrutiny.

Faf de Klerk is likely to start at halfback as he did media duties this week, but will Grant Williams get a bench role to cover wing again, or scrumhalf. With four 9s in the squad, the decision on which 9 gets the back-up role will also be key.

Do the Boks go with their traditional bomb squad 6-2 split, or with the arrival back of Lukhanyo Am into the team is there a place for him despite the fact he hasn’t played any rugby since the game against Argentina in Buenos Aires?

In all likelihood the Boks are probably going to stick with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel for the starting line-up, but there is a case to be made for a mercurial player like Am to be on the bench for the Boks.

Does Duane Vermeulen get a starting role or does Jasper Wiese keep his place for the big game and at lock will Franco Mostert partner Eben Etzebeth or can the Boks spring a surprise for the quarterfinal and include RG Snyman?

The front row looks sorted, as does most of the rest of the team, but the key areas of selection above, and the balance of the bench and the match day 23 will be crucial to the Boks hopes.

They will know that, and will have made their calculations.

France, like the rest of us, will have to wait until Friday to find out just what those selections are.