Couch Critic previews Saturday's Rugby World Cup Pool B clash between South Africa and Namibia with best bets from @Olimp_SA

The public has had their go. Be it an over indulgence in the kicking strategy, the incompetence of the referee or a general loss of faith in those whom Rassie feels are key personnel – Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux. Boy has the public perception and faith in Erasmus seemingly taken a serious knock in the space of less than two months and after only one game. But such is the nature of the beast. Many of these question marks around the Springboks won’t be answered this weekend - but that doesn’t mean we can’t don the jerseys, pull out the billies and of course have ourselves a punt on this match against our neighbours!

South Africa vs Namibia, Saturday 28 September @ 11:45 (Toyota)

What you need to know

As expected, Erasmus has rung the changes for this clash. Pre-tournament the Springbok coach was adamant that he had built squad depth for a reason and will be using his established “B” team on a few occasions. The loss to New Zealand in their World Cup opener not withstanding and clearly with zero fear of a repeat of the Brighton bugger-up the Bok coach has stuck to his guns and wiped his entire starting roster clean for this one, barring Am and Mapimpi who retain their jumpers.

Namibia showed the character we expected form them against Italy. They were slick in executing a few of their moves and manged three tries against a Tier 1 nation. The men from North-West of the Republic will have to dig even deeper to keep things tidy against the two-time World Champions though.

How I see it panning out

All of the smaller unions dream of emulating what Japan did against the Springboks in 2015. It would be the ultimate fairy-tale for any of the “minnows” to even come close to toppling a high-profile side like South Africa, but unfortunately Namibia won’t be starring in any movies hailing the underdog any time soon. The question is not whether the Namibians can upset their illustrious opponents on Saturday but rather whether they can manage to keep things respectable on the score board. I think a super keen fellow African team will go all out to try and prove a point against a new-look Springbok team.

In the exotics I can’t look past the selection of Schalk Brits at number eight. He will thrive in this looser role that will give him chance to show-case his skills. I see him getting over the whitewash. Bongi Mbonambi is likely to get in “the boot” at a few mauls. Namibia should have little answer to the strong Bok maul and hopefully this is how the scoring starts in this one.

Betolimp Best Bet:

Namibia to stay within the cap of +59.5 @ 1.87 

Special Play 1: Anytime Tryscorer – Schalk Brits @ 2.30

Special Play 2: First Tryscorer – Bongi Mbonambi @ 11.00

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change

Couch Critic