- The Springboks will show Scotland's SA-quartet the necessary respect, but nothing else in Saturday's Test at Murrayfield.
- Reliable Franco Mostert says there's no reason for SA to feel any extra emotion or be distracted by their respective presence.
- Assistant coach Deon Davids adopted a similar line in stating that the ex-South Africans' achievements need to be acknowledged.
Respect but nothing else will be the Springboks' mantra should they face Scotland's current band of South African imports in Saturday's encounter at Murrayfield.
Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman both started in their team's 15-13 victory over Australia this past weekend, with Schoeman - a former Bulls loosehead - in particular delivering a fine performance with some strong scrummaging and a nifty off-load for the Scots' second try.
Oli Kebble and Kyle Steyn gave accomplished showings off the bench.
But Bok hardman Franco Mostert, in typically deadpan fashion, insisted that facing ex-countryman is no reason to suddenly start experiencing conflicting or added emotion.
"From a personal perspective, these guys are merely players I compete against," said the second rower, who has done a fine job deputising at blindside flank this season.
"Of course, you know these guys understand Afrikaans very well and they're still our proverbial blood. But it still makes no difference, I don't believe there's some extra emotion involved.
"All of them are excellent rugby players and made their marks in South Africa, which probably allowed them to come play overseas. We've all seen how they've done here. They'll be keen to get an opportunity to play well and for us it's just about having a lekker jol against them."
The duo's familiarity with Afrikaans would seem to present another challenge for the Boks as some of their calls could theoretically be compromised, but Mostert insists it won't have any influence.
"I don't believe it will be an issue in any way," he said.
"We'll still make our calls and pre-calls. It won't matter."
National assistant coach Deon Davids was similarly diplomatic, merely acknowledging that the quartet have done well for themselves despite having coached them at junior level.
"We definitely have respect for them and their abilities," he said.
"All of them were influential at schools level in South Africa, established themselves here and then came to Scotland and worked their way into the Scottish and, in Duhan's case, the Lions team. That's a great feat and that's why we're looking forward to competing against them."
The Springboks name their team for the weekend on Tuesday.