The Springboks are likely to be at full strength when coach Heyneke Meyer picks his team to face Wales in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal at Twickenham.

The Springboks reunited after going their separate ways for 4 days with their wives and girlfriends, exploring all parts of London – with 1 or 2 even heading across to France for their recess, and it was apparent that the Springboks would be able to select from all 31 in the squad when they make their team announcement on Wednesday.

While there were no new injuries, it seems Bok veterans JP Pietersen and Victor Matfield could also be fit for selection after overcoming their injuries that kept them out of the USA game.

Another player who missed that match, Jannie du Plessis, is also set to be fit for selection when the team is decided upon.

Of course in Pietersen’s case it seems a relatively easy selection to pick him ahead of Lwazi Mvovo even though the latter did well in Pietersen’s absence and even scored a try in the 10-try whitewash of the Americans.

Pietersen may not have the speed of Mvovo, but his defensive strengths and the form he has shown in this tournament make him a favourite to return to his fancied right-wing position.

Matfield’s case is different though. His hamstring seems to have passed muster with the medical team and he now has to overcome the normal training regime without hassle to see him back in the selection frame.

But in his case he has to also convince the management team he is a better pick than the in-form Lood de Jager, who is possibly the Springboks’ player of the tournament at the moment. De Jager keeps on growing in stature and the Springboks will need his energy for the Welsh game.

Doctor Craig Roberts was a happy man on the regular Sunday medical update with very few worries ahead of the quarterfinals.

“Thankfully we didn’t pick up any significant injuries in the USA game. The 2 guys we have to make a call on are Victor (Matfield), who is coming back well from that hamstring strain of his. We will see how they go at training before we make a decision,” Dr Roberts explained.

“The other one is JP, who jarred his knee but that has settled very nicely. He should be available for the weekend but he has to come through some training sessions before we can clear him. So, effectively everyone is available for selection.”

Dr Roberts said while a hamstring is a difficult injury to diagnose, he was very confident that Matfield would be ready for selection.

“I think Vic has a good chance. He ran nicely yesterday and ran well today,” Dr Roberts added.

“Obviously we want to get him through a training session and make sure he can do the functional stuff we need him to do at the weekend. But he is looking good.”

Now the attention will turn to selection and the debate whether experience or exuberance is more appropriate for a game that will determine if the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup campaign will move along to the next step.

Heyneke Meyer faces tough selection posers:

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer faces a selection headache as they prepare for their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

After Jean de Villiers was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured jaw, and Victor Matfield sidelined with a hamstring injury, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez was handed the captain’s armband for South Africa’s last 2 pool stage wins against Scotland and the USA.

Despite having his detractors, with many saying the introverted and media-shy Du Preez would not be an assertive enough character to lead a team like the Springboks, Du Preez has done an impeccable job, with a certain calmness around the team under his leadership.

Let’s be honest though, Meyer would have made Matfield captain had he not injured himself against Samoa, and with team doctor Craig Roberts on Sunday saying he expected Matfield to be ready for the clash against Wales, Meyer will be tempted to hand the captaincy back to the latter.

But does 38-year-old Matfield warrant a spot in the starting team?

His replacement, Lood de Jager, has been arguably the best Springbok at this tournament.

De Jager has impressed with his bullocking runs, his lineout play is good and he was South Africa’s top tackler in their last 2 games – executing 16 hits against Scotland and 20 against the USA.

It would be tough to drop De Jager, who has also combined well with lock partner Eben Etzebeth.

But Matfield would surely not be a better option coming off the bench, and Meyer may be tempted to utilise De Jager as an impact player.

The other lock in the squad, Pieter-Steph du Toit, has performed adequately and it would also be tough to exclude him.

The logical choice seems to be to keep Du Preez as captain for the remainder of the tournament, but exactly how Meyer intends to use Matfield (provided he is fit) is tough to predict.

De Jager could provide great impetus coming off the bench in the 2nd half, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the route Meyer goes, but it would be cruel on De Jager to be demoted to the bench…

Springboks confident they can beat Wales:

Wales may well be pinning a lot of their hopes on the fact they beat the Springboks last year in Cardiff ahead of this Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, but it is becoming increasingly clear the Springboks are a confident lot as well.

Asked whether it was fair to rely on the Cardiff match as a measure of this Springbok team, the Springboks’ defence coach John McFarland shot back an answer as quick as the Welsh rush defence.

“I think we’re pretty confident as well that we are going to beat them, so it goes both ways,” McFarland said in a rare moment when the script wasn’t the normal politically correct answers from the Springboks.

With only 1 try conceded in their last 3 games, the Springboks are pretty comfortable with their own defensive effort, but know they will encounter a Welsh team that is just as direct on attack than they are themselves.

With that in mind, the physicality on defence, something that has really shone through in the past few games will be key for the team in facing a Welsh outfit that has a lot of bulk under coach Warren Gatland and will be using it to try and hit their way over the gain-line this weekend.

McFarland is happy the Springboks are in a good space at the moment, but knows the team needs to step it up physically if they are to come out on top.

“We are in a good space, and we have certainly improved. We’ve set a marker in terms of physicality, and what we want to do in terms of the tournament,” McFarland added.

“It will be a tough game on the weekend. Knockout rugby always is. It will be about who works the hardest, who dominates the collisions, who takes their chances. It is never any different.”

The Springboks were impressed not as much by the Welsh performance but by the Australian defence. While they haven’t concentrated too much on those clips, McFarland said there were minor details they would have picked up from the game which would be important this weekend, especially with the way Wales attack.

“Wales didn’t score but you have to appreciate they were close to the goal-line and those were ‘5-metre’ situations. So when you’re defending on the line you don’t have to have any sweepers, so you can put men in the line. Wales would probably have wanted to attack from a little deeper,” McFarland noted from the weekend’s game.

“Australia also scrummed fantastically when they were down to 7 men and then to cap it off there was a superb read on the flyhalf from Adam Ashley-Cooper that stopped everything stone dead there. They knew that was the game changer.

“From the start of the 2nd half it was obvious Australia were far more focused and more physical and had more intent. From the 1st kick-off to the half they put Wales under pressure.

“We’ve brought our own brand of intensity, but obviously there are some clips from that game, particularly what Wales tried to do, that we will be showing our players.”

SuperSport & Sport24