South Africa delay naming team for quarter-final against France

South Africa have delayed naming their matchday squad for the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France scheduled to be played at Stade de France on Sunday.

The Springboks finished second in Pool B with their only defeat coming against Ireland when they named seven forwards on the bench and their director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has ramped up the mind games once again with delaying the team announcement.

Erasmus, who confirmed Handre Pollard, Manie Libbok and Lukhanyo Am are available for the encounter said a decision on their combination will be named seeing the selection from France.

“The decision to delay the team naming is without a doubt tactical,” said Erasmus.

“We have been mixing and matching for the last year and making sure that in almost every single position we have two almost equally good players.

“In some cases, we are not even sure which one is the best, so we’re keeping our options open for a seven-one, six-two or five-three split.

“With both Handre [Pollard] and Manie [Libbok] being available, and Lukhanyo [Am] fully fit, we have sort of made up our minds.

“We want to see what the French team looks like too. That also might have an influence on us going seven-one or six-two.”