Flip van der Merwe believes that South Africa’s underdogs tag is “the best place to be” for the team, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast.
Van der Merwe, who won 36 caps for the Springboks between 2010 and 2015, felt that South Africa’s up and down form over the summer had come from the respective positive and negative reactions to wins and losses.
And he felt the Springboks being fifth favourites for next year’s World Cup, behind France, New Zealand, England and Ireland was not a bad spot for his side.

South Africa beat New Zealand in their opening game, but were not victorious again until r...