Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard says they will be ready for whatever the British and Irish Lions throw at them at Cape Town Stadium at 6pm tomorrow night.
Much has been made about the Springboks not being ready for the clash – with the team having only played one Test match against Georgia and a midweek match as South Africa ‘A’ against the British Lions since winning the World Cup trophy in Japan in 2019.
Add to this the fact that 11 of their squad members were out because of Covid-19, with Pollard being one of them, the Boks enter the match a bit cold as a unit.
Pollard, who will play in his 50th match for the national team on Saturday, says: “There’s no way [we’re not ready for the match], playing against the British and Irish Lions, playing for your country, there’s no way you’re not going to be ready.
“Emotionally, physically we’re all fine. We’ve had a hard week’s planning – the way we train is harder than the game, so we’ll be ready for whatever comes our way on Saturday.”
“No way we are not going to be ready – emotionally, physically all fine. We’ll be ready for whatever comes our way on Saturday.”
SOUTH AFRICA: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse.
BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Wyn Jones. Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Liam Williams.