Rugby World Cup 2019: Springboks look to secure quarter-final place with a win over Canada

South Africa will be back in action at the Rugby World Cup 2019 against Canada on Tuesday, October 8 as they aim to secure qualification to the last eight from Pool B.

They are currently joint second with Italy on 10 points. A win here will go a long way in setting up a quarter-final match-up with either the winner or first runner-up from Pool A.

Current Pool B leaders New Zealand face Italy on Saturday, October 12. Should the Azzurri pull off a shock result against the All Blacks, then South Africa may find themselves finishing third, even with a win against Canada. However, this is by far largely unlikely to happen.

Rassie Erasmus’s lost to New Zealand in their opening game but have won their second and third against Namibia and Italy respectively. Canada are considered to be the weakest team in Pool B and the Springboks should have no problems reaching the quarter finals from here.

Canada have showed a certain degree of strength and spirit, but have ultimately fallen short of making any real impact at the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. This is their third game and they will play their final against Namibia on Sunday.

Key Talking Points: South Africa

• The Springboks will be encouraged by the fact that they will be the first team at Japan 2019 to finish their Pool matches. This will ensure they have maximum rest before their quarter final fixture, likely to be with the winner of Pool A.
• Erasmus has named a strong starting line up with fly-half Elton Jantjies, hooker Schalk Brits and scrum half Cobus Reinach all set to play in their final Pool match.
• A bonus point win for South Africa should secure their progression from Pool B. Italy would need to pull off a shock bonus point victory of their own over New Zealand to stop this from happening.

Key Talking Points: Canada

• Similar to their previous World Cup campaign, Canada have failed to win a single game at this edition of the tournament. They will have a severe turnaround of just five days before their final, and most winnable, fixture against Namibia on Sunday.
• They have been prone to making high amounts of handling errors in the final third. They have managed only one try in this tournament which came in their 48-7 defeat to Italy.
• Full-back Andrew Coe is set to make his first World Cup start. The 23-year-old scored Canada’s only try of the tournament over Italy.