Rassie explains Handre Pollard recall as wet weather looms in Cape Town

Pollard returns to the starting line-up for this weekend's clash, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu dropping to the bench.

The 32-year-old was named Man of the Match against Scotland on 11 July in his first Bok appearance of the 2026 campaign, but a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Wales Test a week later.

He returned against Argentina almost a month ago, looking sharp for the Boks after coming on as a replacement and helping them close out the game.

Meanwhile, an injury to Cheslin Kolbe, who assumed the goal-kicking duties when Feinberg-Mngomezulu was on the field last weekend, also made him decide to go with Pollard.

"We had a different team in mind. We hoped we could win the first Test match, and we wanted to try some things," the coach said on Monday. "We hoped Canan Moodie would be fit. I would have loved to play Cheslin again.  

"Then he got injured, and Grant Williams got injured as well. So there are a couple of changes that we wouldn't have made, and others that we wanted to make, but because of us not getting winning momentum, it's tough to make more changes."

Erasmus said Pollard's experience and goal-kicking ability in the wet will add a lot of value.

"It's Cape Town, and it's probably going to be wet.

"I think we played stupid [last week], and some of the messages came from me – on the pitch, you know, 'two points is three points is two less than five...'

"With Cheslin out, and Cheslin kicks really well... We're only flying down on Wednesday, and as I see the weather conditions, there is a chance for rain," he added.

"Handre has always been the guy that does it for us. He grew up in Cape Town; it's his hometown, the same as Manie."

The Bok boss also confirmed that Libbok, who came off the bench last week, remains part of his plans for the matches that follow Saturday’s encounter.

"I feel bad for Manie, but we know Manie is still going to play in the next two matches after this one. We think Handré is a good fit [this week]."