Coach Johan Ackermann says he will rotate the Vodacom Bulls team for their next URC match against Glasgow at Scotstoun Stadium.
Several Springboks will head home after the 29-28 win over Connacht in Galway, with tighthead prop Wilco Louw and utility back Canan Moodie among those unavailable for Friday night’s clash.
Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard had already returned to Pretoria after the Ulster match for the birth of his second child.
The Boks will soon embark on their end-of-year tour, which kicks off against Japan at Wembley Stadium on 1 November.
“I’ll be sending a few guys back home,” said Ackermann. “At this stage, Wilco will go back, Canan will go back, and one or two others as well. We’re going to rotate the squad, partly to give some players a mental and physical break.
“The 4G pitches really take their toll on the body – there are a lot of bruises and plenty of skin off knees and elbows in the changing room right now. It’s a tough tour, but at least we’re getting it out of the way early, and then we’ve got a few games back in South Africa.”
The Bulls bounced back from their loss to Ulster with a thrilling win in Galway, thanks to two tries from scrumhalf Paul de Wet.
Connacht had a chance to snatch victory at the death, but replacement flyhalf Sean Naughton twice missed a touchline conversion.
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Ackermann was pleased with his team’s response to the Ulster defeat, but said they still need to cut out costly lapses in concentration.
“Obviously, you couldn’t get it closer. Tonight we could have lost it, they had a kick to win it, so we’re grateful for the victory,” he said. “I felt we did a lot of good things, and we probably don’t need to feel too guilty about the victory because we were in control of the game until that last moment when the ball was kicked and swung inside and they scored a good try.
“There were a lot of mistakes again, but the most pleasing thing was the character the players showed this week. We didn’t have that big slump like we did against Ulster.”
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Ackermann admitted their tendency to “switch off” remains a work-on.
“The ability and the skill are there, but we tend to switch off at times. I even spoke to some of the players afterwards and they admitted it’s still a big work-on for us.
“These are quality teams and they’ll punish you when you make errors. If we want to progress, we have to cut those out.”
Photo: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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