South Africa is looking far beyond Sunday’s clash in Bordeaux, testing the adaptability of its mighty squad.

South Africa’s dream World Cup is likely to continue against Romania on Sunday afternoon when they visit wine country at the Stade de Bordeaux.

Romania conceded 11 tries in their opening 82-8 defeat to Ireland and they can expect more of the same from a Springbok side likely to play with far more flash than in their 18-3 win over Scotland.

The coaching staff have set tongues wagging by selecting all four of the scrumhalves in the squad, while putting flanker Marco van Staden through his paces at hooker in training, in case of emergencies.

There is no doubt that the loss to injury of Malcolm Marx is a setback, but this squad is so focused it will make a plan.

No other nation in the tournament could put out a second team as strong as this one, as proved by a very unconvincing win by the French dirt trackers against Uruguay on Thursday night.

The Boks, by contrast, have selected a starting 15 packed with pace and power, one that is certain to rewrite the record books for clashes between the two nations.

That’s because they have only met once, on a dreary day at Newlands in 1995, where captain for the day, Adriaan Richter, scored twice from the back of the scrum.

In those days Romania had a far better side, with rugby being the sport of choice for the military. Even so, the 21-8 defeat to the Boks was their best performance, with heavy defeats suffered against Canada and Australia.

So expect one-way traffic in the 1st half, with some outrageous experimentation in the 2nd. Faf de Klerk is set to come on as flyhalf, while Jesse Kriel might replace Willie le Roux at fullback, the position he played at Maritzburg College.

Deon Fourie will probably swap with Bongi Mbonambi as soon as the half-hour mark, and then exchange places with Marco van Staden at flank for the last 15 minutes.

Pictured above: Springboks