Schalk Burger believes that the Springboks pack will relish their clash with Scotland and will put the hosts’ front five under the pump.
South Africa head to Murrayfield to take on Gregor Townsend’s side on Sunday looking to begin their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a victory.
Scotland have already opened their account, securing a dominant 57-17 victory over a weakened Fiji outfit last weekend.
Their backline ripped the Pacific Islanders apart with Adam Hastings, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe among those to excel.
Defence and set-piece power
They will almost certainly not get the same joy against the Springboks, however, who should be far more resilient defensively and will test the hosts’ set-piece.
It is particularly in the Boks front five, which has been a key strength over the past few years, where Burger expects Rassie Erasmus’ team to dominate this weekend.
“Their attack and their backline, I think we’ve got to respect it. This weekend, if Hastings plays, he plays just like Finn Russell,” he said on the Boks Office podcast.
“More time against Fiji, more turnover ball, but then [Sione] Tuipulotu is exceptional at 12, with that Huw Jones combination.
“Darcy Graham gets a chance, scores four tries, equals Duhan van der Merwe’s record and then Duhan scores another one to go ahead of him – that very well known Scot.
“I think their loose forwards are decent in [Rory] Darge, [Matt] Fagerson and [Jack] Dempsey, but as loose forwards we can only function with the platform that is ahead of us.
“That’s where the odds come in our favour, their biggest weakness is our biggest strength, and we’ve got two of those packs out there.
“With the fact that RG Snyman’s back and playing well, we’ll go 6-2 split and I think our pack of forwards will put them under pressure.
“I think for them parity will go a long way. If they do get parity it will be a tight game but I don’t think they can get parity this weekend, not even close.”
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Mallett in agreement
Former South Africa head coach Nick Mallett, who was on the podcast alongside regulars Burger and Jean de Villiers, agreed with the former Boks back-rower.
“I think they (Scotland) won’t make mistakes if they’re on the front foot, I think they’re a very, very well-drilled backline, really understand when to play a short runner, when to play it behind the back – they’re really good,” Mallett said.
“But unfortunately, they need desperately for their two front-rows to handle [the Springboks]. It depends on how many scrums there are going to be but they’ve got to handle our scrum and we are going to go flat out to win penalties in that area.
“When you think you’ve got Eben [Etzebeth], RG Snyman and [Franco] Mostert back, jeepers we’ve got some special players.
“Our tight five, you can pick two packs that can match and certainly better the second half Scottish pack so that’s where we’ve got to have a full go.”
READ MORE: Andre Esterhuizen savages South African-born Scots: ‘I’d rather have 18 caps for the Springboks than 70 caps for a country I’m not actually born in’
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