Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Makazole Mapimpi are among the squad players who could get a run for the Springboks in the second Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Perth. DYLAN JACK reports.

The Springboks go into Saturday’s Test on the back of a comfortable bonus-point victory in Brisbane in the opening round of the tournament.

With the All Blacks taking no log points from their shock defeat to Argentina in Wellington, the Boks have a five-point lead on the team that is expected to be their toughest rivals for the title.

Wessels and Mapimpi were both on duty for Monday’s online press conference from Perth.

While it has happened in the past, it is unusual for the Springboks to put forward players who are not involved in the weekend’s Test match.

The young utility forward and veteran winger were joined by Duane Vermeulen, the former Bok No 8 now with the team as part of SA Rugby’s coaching mobi-unit.

“We’ve got a big squad, 33 players, and we want to use all 33,” Vermeulen said.

“You need the guys to stay on top form and you need the guys to perform when there is an injury, so they need to have had game time and a game.

“There might be a couple of changes. We don’t know yet. These two guys here might be part of the mix. You need game time and experience. Rassie and the coaching staff will send out the perfect team for us this weekend.

“It’s a big one for us,” Vermeulen added. “There are a lot of things that we can still work on. We left a couple of tries out there. So it’s still not the perfect game for us. Hopefully we can step it up and bring extra energy into this weekend.”

Wessels and Mapimpi were both part of a Springbok starting lineup captained by Salmaan Moerat for the Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein in July.

Both players got on the scoresheet, with Wessels – fielded at loosehead prop – scoring on his Test debut, while Mapimpi notched a hat-trick of tries.

Mapimpi’s last encounter with the Wallabies in Australia was fiery, as he dotted down in the corner in a 24-8 win in Sydney in 2022, but was yellow carded for his role in starting a massive fracas.

Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

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Src: sarugbymag.co.za