Springboks Rassie Erasmus Nienaber World Cup

Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber. Photo: SA Rugby

REVEALED: When the Springboks will name team for England semifinal showdown! 

The Springboks advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, after an exhilarating 29-28 victory over hosts France on Sunday evening.

Springboks Rassie Erasmus Nienaber World Cup

Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber. Photo: SA Rugby

The Springboks advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, after an exhilarating 29-28 victory over hosts France on Sunday evening.

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In a very tightly contested encounter, France came out firing from the blocks, as was expected, with their buoyant crowd adding extra problems for the Springboks.

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It would then be no surprise that it would be the French who dotted down first, during the opening exchanges of the game, with the Springboks answering back through speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse. The two sides would then continue exchanging tries in a high tempo first half that saw a total of six tries scored, a record for a World Cup. 

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The Springboks went into the half time break trailing the French, but were quickly able to wrestle the momentum back with the shrewd substitution of Kwagga Smith. Smith became a menace at the breakdown for the green and gold, with several defensive and attacking turnovers proving crucial to the win eventually. Now as they come down from the high of that game, the Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus will already be plotting the downfall of the English. 

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The semifinal will be a repeat of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where the Springboks beat England 32-12, and the mind games have already begun. SA director of rugby Erasmus started following England Rugby on Twitter, and where it gets interesting is because, that is the only account he happens to be following. Soon, coach Nienaber will be naming his squad to face the English at Stade de France, in Paris. 

Springboks stick to World Rugby protocols once again

With the Springboks making it a tradition to name their match day squads earlier in the week, they went against that last week, opting to name it two days before the game as per World Rugby regulations. They will be doing so again this week, with the World Rugby schedule confirming that their team announcement will come on Thursday.  KickOff for this game is set for 21h00 on Saturday.