Springboks stars such as Eben Etzebeth has started to hit their stride after a long absence through injury.
As this high-stakes Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks reaches its climax, all the evidence suggests the Springboks are primed to finish as the far stronger, more dominant side over the next two weekends.
When the series kicked off in the first Test at Ellis Park, the Boks looked uncharacteristically rusty and off the pace. The build-up had been far from ideal, featuring a lone outing against Argentina where head coach Rassie Erasmus elected to leave the bulk of his senior core at home to manage workloads after the Nations Championship matches against England, Scotland, and Wales.
As a result, critical heavyweights entered the arena lacking match fitness. Ox Nché, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu were all short of minutes following extended injury layoffs.
The All Blacks, by contrast, arrived for the first Test at Ellis Park boasting the distinct advantage of multiple warm-up fixtures under their belts against the South African franchises.
