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The Springboks take on Wales in the final Outgoing Tour Test match at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday looking for a clean sweep, but scrum coach Daan Human is rejecting the notion they are favourites.
The Boks have beaten Japan, France, Italy and Ireland over the past four weeks in Europe and they are favourites against the Welsh side who were thumped by New Zealand last weekend.
The Springboks have won 11 out of their 13 Tests so far this season, while Wales have been inconsistent with only two wins form their 10 Test matches.
If Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ charges emerge victorious in Cardiff, 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 first-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.
Reflecting on this situation, Human said it is an opportunity to give other players a chance.
“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.
“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.”
The South Africans enter this Test match as favourites according to many pundits but Human disagrees.
“I don’t believe in favourites tags because it doesn’t help the team. You must have respect for the opposition, so we’ll do our best to prepare as well as we can for this match.”
The Boks were destructive at scrum time in their 24-13 victory against Ireland last week, Human is hoping for more of the same.
“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.”
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