CAPE TOWN – The bookies have South Africa to win by 60 points-plus. That is being conservative because ordinarily the Springboks should beat Namibia by 100-plus points every time they play.
Namibia plays in some of South Africa’s secondary provincial competitions and takes a beating, so why expect anything different when they play against some of the best players in South Africa?
The result is not in question, but the performances of the Springboks will be the talking point.
Here are our rugby writers' predictions for the so-called African Derby today:
The @Springboks have too much power up front and speed at the back.
So says @IOLsport rugby scribe @jacq_west
Here is his prediction for today's #AfricanDerby between the @Springboks and @namibia_rugby #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/KtSBeMOSwn
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport) September 28, 2019
. @IOLsport rugby scribe @mark_keohane says #Namibia shouldn't even be at the #RWC2019
Here is his prediction for today's #AfricanDerby between the @Springboks and @namibia_rugby #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/BD7bKM1cSI
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport) September 28, 2019
Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies, earlier in the week, said the Boks had to produce an eight or nine out of 10 type of game.
Too often, he added, the Boks delivered a six out of 10 against inferior opposition.
To take Elton’s cue, what we want to see today is an “eight out of 10” team performance, which translates to an 80-plus point win.
Individually, we just want to see Frans Steyn play 80 minutes in a Bok jersey.