Defending champions South Africa trained at their Toulon base on Tuesday, four days ahead of their second Pool B match at the Rugby World Cup against Romania.
The Springboks got the defence of their title off to a fine start on Saturday with an 18 points to 3 victory over Scotland in Marseille.
Jacques Nienaber, South Africa head coach says it’s important to be competitive.
“The most important thing, in terms of selection, is to make sure that we are competitive and beat Romania – that is the most important thing. So, when we talk team selection, it does not necessarily mean Romania. When we selected the team for Scotland, when we selected the team for New Zealand, we select a team that we feel is good enough to beat the opposition. That is the most important thing.”
South Africa now face a Romania side that were thrashed 82-8 by Ireland in their opener, conceding eight tries along the way.
Vincent Koch, also expressed his feelings ahead of the game against Romania)
“Yeah, the thing is, when you put on the jersey, you are representing yourself, your family, and the 60 million people in South Africa. It does not matter who we play against, it is a Test match and we have to focus on what we can do, and how we can make everyone proud – your team-mates, the coaches, the staff, and the rest of the world. We do not take any game lightly. It is a Test match and that is how we approach it this week.”
South Africa now face a Romania side that were thrashed 82-8 by Ireland in their opener, conceding eight tries along the way.
The selectors have the chance to rest some of the first XV stars in order to give fringe players some game time, but will have to be wary of a Romanian reaction to their humiliation against the Irish.
The two teams have met once before – in the group phase at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.
The Springboks won 21-8 on that occasion and famously went on to win the World Cup for the first time
Source: Africanews
