Human Doesn’t Believe in “Favourites” Tag

Springbok scrum coach Daan Human said he did not believe in the “favourites” tag as the team began their preparations on Monday for their final Test of the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, and said they treated all opposition teams with utmost respect.

See Wales Team here: Wales Name 4 Uncapped Players in Starting Squad to Face Springboks

The Springboks have won 11 out of their 13 Tests so far this season, while Wales have won only two of their 10 games, and if Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ charges emerge victorious, they will add another feather in their cap by finishing their traditional November tour unbeaten for the second year in a row.

Both teams, however, will be missing several choice players as the clash falls outside of the international window.

The Springboks will be without the services of World Rugby Men’s Player of the year Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit, Boan Venter, Lood de Jager (who is still serving a suspension for a dangerous tackle), RG Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Grant Williams, Handre Pollard, Manie Libbok, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, and Edwill van der Merwe, who have all returned to their provincial unions and clubs.

Commenting on several players having returned home and the impact it could have on their team selection, Human said it’s nothing new for the Boks.

“We basically play with different teams or make a lot of changes week in and week out, so we are used to it,” said the former Bok prop.

“That said, it’s always a loss not to have some of your top players available, but I would imagine it would be the same for Wales with some of their players participating in the Gallagher Premiership, while I’m also not sure if all their Vodacom United Rugby Championship players will be available.

“The good thing is that it presents another opportunity for some of the younger players because we have guys available, who played last week against Ireland and others who played against Italy, so there is no one new in the travelling squad.”

With the Boks having been successful against Wales since 2018, during which they only suffered two defeats against the hosts on the road – once in Cardiff and once in Washington DC (both in 2018) – the South Africans would enter the match as favourites according to many pundits.

Human, however, shot down that suggestion: “I don’t believe in favourites tags. It doesn’t help a team. You must have respect for the opposition, so we’ll do our best to prepare as well as we can for this match.”

After proving what a powerful weapon the Springbok scrum is in their 24-13 victory against Ireland last week, Human was diplomatic in his response to whether he was hoping for the same success in his area of expertise this weekend.

“My father always says, don’t tell me what you are going to do, tell me what you’ve done, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.

“Wales have quality players, especially their starting front row, and in general they have guys who can really perform and some with a lot of experience, which is quite similar to our team.”

While the Boks have the opportunity to wrap up their five-match tour unbeaten, Human said, while it would be special, their focus was on the match itself, rather than bagging achievements.

“We set goals at the beginning of the year, and there’s only one game left, so it would be a great achievement if we can get it right,” said Human. “But we don’t think about records and being unbeaten, we simply focus on the next game.”

Erasmus will name his match-23 for the Test on Thursday. The match kicks off at 17h10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.