The bounce of the ball was all that prevented Tonga from causing a major upset when they last faced the Springboks at the 2007 World Cup.
Jake White’s decision to field a heavily rotated starting lineup nearly backfired spectacularly as the Springboks had to battle to claim a 30-25 victory against the Pacific Islanders.
The Springboks will on Sunday face Tonga for the first time since that famous game, with it being heavily speculated that the defending champions will once again rotate for the match, in order to preserve their key players for the playoffs. However, Tonga’s performance in 2007 showed that they will be far from easy beats. They opened up a 10-7 lead early in the second half, causing White to call on of John Smit, Bryan Habana, Frans Steyn, Victor Matfield and BJ Botha all at once from the bench.
While the valued Bok substitutes made an impact in helping South Africa go 27-10 up, Tonga continued to fight and closed the gap to just five points, with an unfortunate bounce from an attacking kick preventing a late try that would have sealed the match as a draw.Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP
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