LIAM DEL CARME | Springboks face different opponent as they face Portugal this weekend

The task facing the Springboks in Bloemfontein on Saturday will be vastly different from the one they faced over the last two Saturdays.

They had to staunchly defend their credentials as the number-one ranked team in the world against the number two.

Ireland have proved a real thorn in the Boks’ flesh with the World Champions winning just one of their last five clashes.

This is no fluke. Ireland boast one of the most professional set-ups of all national federations, one in which they fully harness the talent at their disposal.

The team the Springboks face this week has to fish from a limited pool. Soccer-mad Portugal made waves at last year's Rugby World Cup when their energetic and adventurous playing style won them many admirers.

Unlike Ireland, whose players emerge from a carefully constructed pathway, Os Lobos, or the Wolves, assemble their squad from disparate walks of life.

The touring team consists of a handful of full-time professionals who mostly ply their trade in France, but by and large the team has been assembled from the semi-pro and amateur ranks.

Their squad is partly made up of lawyers, architects, labourers, technicians, students and the like. This invokes memories of the makeup of the Springbok team in the first four years after the end of isolation.

Now, however, Portugal will be up against men who, by and large, have been paid to play rugby since they left school.

The Boks rarely see action against World Rugby's emerging nations. Teams outside the game's elite group used to be called Tier Two nations, but that now is deemed offside. At last year's RWC the Boks played Romania and Tonga, both ending in resounding wins for the defending champions.

In 2021 their first post Covid-19 Test was against Georgia in Pretoria, while in 2019 they played Canada and Namibia at the RWC.

It is only at the RWC where they are likely to encounter emerging nations, but World Rugby has tried to broker a Test roster that encourages greater engagement between the established and the emerging.

Outside last year's RWC the last time Portugal played against an established nation was against Italy in June 2022, when they actually ran Kieran Crowley's Azzurri close.

To be fair Portugal has made steady progress up the rankings, jumping 12 places in just a few years.

Though they played in the 2007 RWC in France they did not build on the potential foothold that the tournament provided them.

In last year's RWC, they edged Fiji 24-23, they drew with Georgia and they gave a more than decent account of themselves against Australia and Wales.

Failing to capitalise on the high from the RWC, they lost 10-6 to Belgium in their first Test this year. They went on to thump Poland and Romania before edging neighbours Iberian Peninsula neighbours Spain. In their most recent match in March they were well beaten by Georgia.

They are now under the guiding hand of former Wellington Hurricanes flyhalf Simon Mannix, who will do well if he can maintain joie de vivre his predecessor Patrice Lagisquet was able to instil in the team at last year's RWC in France.

If part of Portugal's charms is what they achieve in the wide open spaces, they will be under no illusions they will be required to stand up in congested traffic in Bloemfontein.

Their challenge will require them to apply themselves to the set pieces. The Boks will try to engage them at close quarters, thus limiting their opportunity to run free. Before Os Lobos will be allowed off the leash, they will have to show some bite when things get tight.