Springboks call up out-half Handre Pollard ahead of key Ireland clash

HUGE ADDITION: South Africa's Handre Pollard during the 2019 Rugby World Cup final match at Yokohama Stadium.

The Springboks, who take on Ireland in a crucial Pool B encounter in Paris next weekend, have called up out-half Handré Pollard in place of the injured Malcolm Marx.

The replacement of a hooker with a ten may be unorthodox but it was well-flagged and it is perfectly in keeping with the way Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have gone about their business here in France and prior to arrival.

The world champions saw off Romania 76-0 at the Stade de Bordeaux on Sunday afternoon with a squad that featured four scrum-halves and two flankers, Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden, sharing duties at hooker after the early exit of captain Bongi Mbonambi.

Pollard missed out on the original 33-man squad due to injury but was placed on standby along with centre Lukhanyo Am and second row Lood de Jager and he had returned to training recently with Leicester Tigers and played against Sale in a friendly on Friday.

An experienced player and an accurate goal-kicker, he will offer a different option to the brains trust than Manie Libbok who is younger, less experienced, less reliable off the tee but more of a playmaker. He was man of the match in their 18-3 defeat of Scotland.

Pollard’s call-up leaves the Boks light at hooker where Mbonambi is now the main man and Fourie and van Staden, who were named as utility forwards in the original squad selection, are his back-ups.

Marx, a hugely important player and a member of the 2022 World Rugby dream team, injured his knee in an innocuous incident at training early last week and has been ruled out of the tournament.

Eben Etzebeth, the key second row, is also an injury concern after suffering a shoulder problem in that opening tournament win over Scotland, but the whispers are that he will be good to go at the Stade de France next Saturday.

“ We are confident with the cover we have at hooker with Bongi Mbonambi and Deon Fourie, and Marco van Staden has been slotting in the position since our alignment camps in February,” said Nienaber.

“So we opted to call up Handre, who has been in our system for years and who was a member of our team in 2019 when we won the World Cup.

“He’s been working hard to return to full fitness, and we are pleased that he now has some game time under his belt for his club, and this will allow him to slot back into the team.

“We’ll work closely with him in the next week to get him back up to speed and back into the full swing of things, and we have no doubt he’ll step up to the challenge. He’s been here before so he knows the physical and mental demands of the World Cup.”