Two performance-related changes among the backs‚ and as many enforced ones in the pack, look to be on the cards when Allister Coetzee names on Thursday his Springbok team to play France on Saturday. The coach is in search of a combination that can eke out a win over a team the Springboks handsomely outplayed in June. Many were hoping that the 3-0 series whitewash would be the platform from which the Springboks could launch an emphatic response to the poor season they had in 2016. It proved a false dawn‚ however‚ as they barely improved on the heights of June‚ while occasionally plummeting to extreme depths‚ most notably away against the All Blacks and last week against Ireland in Dublin. Coetzee wants a reaction from his squad and is going to have to make calls that may prove potentially sensitive but indubitably necessary. Handré Pollard’s expected return to the No10 jersey in the place of Elton Jantjies may not be universally popular but the coach‚ especially after the Dublin deba...
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