Springboks ready to pummel Scotland with two packs to be fresher for England

Signals coming from the South Africa camp this week seem to be baiting Scotland to give the Rugby World Cup champion a tougher autumn contest on Sunday at Murrayfield.

First, Springboks center Andre Esterhuizen insulted the South Africans in the Scotland squad, then coach Rassie Erasmus unexpectedly picked a 7-1 forwards-backs bench and expressed interest in seeing how his team might cope with multiple backline injuries.

Esterhuizen, capped only 18 times since 2018 while competing against Damian de Allende, said, “I’d rather have played 18 games for the Springboks than 70 for another country where I wasn’t born.”

That was a jab at countrymen who have chosen to play for another country. Scotland has Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman, who have qualified on residency, and Dylan Richardson and Kyle Steyn, who have qualified on heritage.

“I’m South African. I love this country and this team,” Esterhuizen stressed. “I’m very happy with where I am.”

He insisted he wasn’t putting down Scotland’s South Africans, though that won’t be pinned up in Scotland’s changing room. Esterhuizen added he understood why some chose to leave the struggling republic, to make a living.

“If ... that opportunity (came for me), I don’t know what I would have done,” he admitted. “For them it is a professional decision. You also need to make money out of rugby, so there’s two different sides to it.”

Scotland has only two professional clubs and spreads the net wide for talent. Captain Sione Tuipulotu and No. 8 Jack Dempsey are Australian, and the latest newcomer, fullback Tom Jordan, is a New Zealander.

They’re set to face different forward packs in each half after Erasmus chose the radical 7-1 bench for the first time since the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand a year ago.

The decision stems from a shorter six-day turnaround to England next week, and keeping his forwards as fresh as possible.

The likes of Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche will be replaced in the second half by Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, RG Snyman and Malcolm Marx.

With scrumhalf Grant Williams the only reserve back, Erasmus suggested he would welcome injuries in the backline to test their depth and versatility.

“Not that we want to jinx a player at all, but we would actually love to see how it works out if three backs get injured, because we think we’re prepared for that,” the coach added. “I don’t think we’ll play with a 7-1 again in the last two games (against England and Wales).”

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend noted how the Springboks have complemented their usual physicality with a more dynamic, open game, which makes them an even greater threat that the hosts haven’t managed to put down for 14 years.

“(South Africa) is the biggest challenge in world rugby right now. The double world champions are in fantastic form,” Townsend said. “They’ve been able to play different teams and show their depth is so strong that they can still put out quality performances.”