Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus suggested possible late changes to the Bok side he named on Tuesday before Saturday's Test against Ireland.

Listen to this article 6 min Listen to this article 6 min Rassie Erasmus always has an air of mischief about him. Even a task as mundane as naming a team can become an exercise in jousting with the opposition.

On Tuesday, Erasmus named a strong and, dare we say it, predictable Bok team to face Ireland in the first of two Tests.

There are 20 members of the victorious Rugby World Cup 2023 party in the matchday squad for Loftus Versfeld this weekend, with 12 players who appeared in the World Cup final in Paris.

He named a bench with six forwards and two backs -- the famous Bomb Squad is back -- and within minutes mused aloud whether the team might change before the weekend.

Erasmus threw out the possibility of the bench changing to a seven-one split between forwards and backs. It's a ploy the Boks used in the World Cup final against New Zealand, winning 12-11, but also against Ireland in the pool stages of last year's showpiece. They lost that game 13-8.

"There's one or two niggles [in the squad]; we might still on Thursday go to a seven-one as well," Erasmus said. "We...