For a team of the Springboks’ pedigree and stature, as the 20 world ranking places between the sides indicates, winning comfortably should be a formality.

Namibia have never won a RWC game in 20 attempts, the Boks have won 30 out of 37 RWC matches and bagged two titles. In the only two previous encounters between the sides South Africa piled on 192 points to Namibia’s 13, scoring 27 tries to one.

Those numbers are only worth noting to highlight the disparity between the geographical neighbours. The gulf remains as stark as the Skeleton Coast. Namibia only have nine professional players in their squad and almost all of them could be labelled journeymen.

According to the last World Rugby census on playing numbers, there are only 1,084 registered senior male players in Namibia. South Africa has 113,174. Essentially, the Boks have 100 times more players too choose from.

Which is why there is so little to gain from this match for the Boks. They are expected to post a massive score and score reams of tries. Anything else will be viewed as an underperformance.

After losing 23-13 to the All Blacks in a cracking round one match in Yokohama last weekend, it’s obvious the Boks need to bag a full haul of five points in Toyota to stay on track for quarterfinal qualification.

For Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, the “to-do” list is straightforward – win with a bonus point, hope there are no injuries and avoid any serious disciplinary breaches that could lead to suspensions.

The first and third parts are within the team’s control, but injuries are left to chance however much fitness and physical preparation has been done to avoid them.

“Every match is a must-win game for us now and we are treating this match with the same level of preparation as we did New Zealand last week,” said Erasmus from Nagoya.

“This is a Springbok team that is hungry to play and show what they can do and the majority of them have had the chance to play as a combination together a couple of times this season.

“They’ve got an important job to do: you always lose momentum in a defeat and we need to regain that with a victory and a strong performance.”

Erasmus made it clear weeks before RWC 2019 started that the squad that took on the All Blacks last week was his preferred “first choice”. The starting team against Namibia are viewed as the “B team”, although there is always some overlap.

This week centre Lukhanyo Am and wing Makazole Mapimpi are the only survivors from the starting XV against the All Blacks as Erasmus stuck to his pre-tournament plan.

Am wouldn’t have started, but Jesse Kriel’s hamstring strain wasn’t worth risking against Namibia. Mapimpi, who was exposed defensively at times against the All Blacks, will have a chance to regain some confidence in a match where he should have many opportunities to show off his lethal attacking gifts.

The most interesting selection from a Bok perspective is the choice of captain on the day, Schalk Brits at No 8. The squad’s official third choice hooker has dabbled in looseforward play before, most notably at the Stormers when Erasmus was director of rugby in Cape Town a decade ago.

The last time Brits started at looseforward was in 2011 when the Stormers drafted him from English club side Saracens as an emergency replacement for a Super Rugby play-off.

In rugby terms it was a lifetime ago, but Erasmus’ decision this week was to add pace to a back row that includes Kwagga Smith and Francois Louw. It was calculated with the opposition in mind. No prizes for guessing that the Boks want to make it a fast contest.

Halfbacks Herschel and Elton Jantjies will certainly ensure the tempo remains upbeat, with the likes of fullback Warrick Gelant and wing S’bu Nkosi hungry for space and time to create havoc in the wider channels.

The Bok tight five should be far too powerful Namibia and from that platform South Africa could run riot.

The danger for the Boks is that the match could become unstructured and messy if they abandon some basic principles and move away from creating pressure through territorial and set piece dominance.

“What that (loose trio) gives us is a lot of speed over the park, which is another benefit against a Namibian team which, in our analysis, wants to play and enjoy thegame and have a lot of fun,” Erasmus said.

“We will need some speed all over the park and this loose trio will give us that.”

For Namibia this is not a match they expect to win, but former star flank Jacques Burger believes they have to try and win little skirmishes within the battle.

Burger, now a sheep farmer in his home country, played both the previous Tests between the sides amongst his 41 international appearances.

“It’s obviously tough for Namibia because the bulk of the squad is amateur and in many cases the players look up to the Springboks as heroes,” Burger, who played for seven seasons at Saracens, said.

“They idolise some of the players they will be up against, so it’s difficult.

“But the main thing is that you have to try and earn some small victories on the pitch. If you can defend for more than five phases, turn over a few lineouts, or put some phases together on attack then that’s already a good outcome.

“It might sound to an outsider like we (Namibia) are dreaming a bit small, but if we’re realistic, we are playing against one of the favourites for the World Cup.” DM

Teams:

South Africa– 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Schalk Brits (capt), 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Reserves: 16 Steven Kitshoff, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Eben Etzebeth, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Damian de Allende, 23 Cheslin Kolbe.

Namibia– 15 Johan Tromp, 14 Chad Plato, 13 JC Greyling, 12 PJ Walters, 11 Lesley Klim, 10 Cliven Loubser, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 7 Max Katjijeko, 6 Thomasau Forbes, 5 Tjiuee Uanivi (capt), 4 Johan Retief, 3 AJ De Klerk , 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Des Sethie.
Reserves: 16 Obert Nortje, 17 Andre Rademeyer, 18 Johannes Coetzee, 19 Prince !Gaoseb, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Wian Condradie, 22 Helarius Axasman Kisting, 23 Johan Deysel.