Rassie Erasmus had to field what he claimed was “a very loaded” question about his much-changed Springboks line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Championship rematch with the All Blacks in Wellington.
The South Africa head coach reacted to last weekend’s 17-24 Round Three loss to New Zealand in Auckland by bringing forward his team selection announcement and then unveiling a XV containing seven changes.
Five of the alterations are in a youthful-looking backline where Cheslin Kolbe and Canan Moodie are the only starters retained from Eden Park. Winger Ethan Hooker has been chosen for just the third time, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu comes in at fly-half, Aphelele Fassi is restored to full-back, while Moodie has been switched from wing to centre to partner Damian Willemse.
In the pack, Jasper Wiese returns following his suspension and Lood de Jager is promoted from the bench.
“That’s the bottom line…”
A South African reporter in the online segment of the team announcement briefing from Wellington asked Erasmus: “I know you’re looking ahead and giving these guys game time, but, without giving any specifics, are there some players that perhaps disappointed you so much (last Saturday in Auckland) that they forced your hand?
The Springboks head coach replied: “It’s a very loaded question. So if I say yes, he [the reporter] is probably going to ask who. No, we all know there were a lot of guys that didn’t play well and there are a lot of coaches who didn’t coach well last week, including myself.
“If I have to look at the positives (with the way) the game ended, it almost felt like the World Cup, that (2023) Ireland pool match where we clawed ourselves back into the game and then we didn’t score at the end.
“And to answer your question there, I thought the guys that that came on brought a lot of energy and brought a lot of fight which, after 15 minutes, you know we were 14-0 down and then they [the All Blacks] only scored another 10 points, which is irrelevant – we lost the game and that’s the bottom line.
“But the energy that the guys who came on (had) maybe changed my mind and to think, ‘Let’s get some energetic guys onto the field who’ve never played here (in New Zealand) before’.
“You know, we are still two in the world, so we win this game, we’re back in the Rugby Championship mix and we are still high in the world rankings. So it [the selection] is a bit of both. You know, obviously some players, like some coaches, some of us are disappointed, but it wasn’t through a lack of trying.”
Erasmus had begun the briefing by saying: “It would have been paradise if we won last weekend and we still could have made the changes, which was the plan.
“Not a lot of players get the opportunity to play New Zealand and after this game, we probably only have the year of the World Cup (2027) where we’re playing them away here.
“So the plan was to try and win and then also give some (players) the pressure of playing against the top team currently in the world. Maybe not so many we would have made, but definitely we would have made changes.
“So it’s not so much fresh legs as making sure we get some guys under the pressure of playing a team like that and hopefully learn from that for the next two years until the World Cup.”
Erasmus added: “Winning every match is quite important for us, or trying to win or attempt or plan to win every match is the most important thing. Now, after this weekend (in Wellington), we are going to be eight games into the season.
“I don’t know if I’m 100 per cent right, but it looks like we are still #2 in the world rankings-wise… I don’t know if World Rugby is updated or not. I just checked, so it looks like we’re still #2 in the world. So you know, if we get through this game and we win the game, we will either be number one or two in the world, I guess. It’s after eight games, and then we’re halfway through the season.
“So yeah, the big goal is to build squad depth and, as I said last week, that is introducing youngsters, sometimes with some senior players, introducing the youngsters at different venues, introducing youngsters at other positions is really good.
“Number one in the world in their own field [New Zealand], you know, under pressure of crowd pressure. And then slowly seeing how they develop, you know, a guy like Fassi, this is the next stage for him developing.
“A guy like Sasha has played against New Zealand last year, but that was at home. Damian Williams coming back, hasn’t played at 12 for a while, getting him back into the mix. So it’s trying to balance it while winning because I know the only thing that makes us all happy is winning. But yeah, there’s a bit of an eye on the future without forgetting the present.”
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Switching to the inclusion of Wiese at No.8 for his first outing since the July red card versus Italy, a selection that has resulted in Siya Kolisi moving to openside and taking back the captaincy from the excluded midfielder Jesse Kriel, Erasmus said: “For the last eight weeks he’s just been training so we are we’re very happy to have him back.
“And I know everybody talked about the eighth-man crisis: Siya did a great job in the first game until he injured his knee, and I thought Siya did really well last weekend.
“And Kwagga (Smith) does well when he comes on, and now having Jasper back is a massive plus. He probably won’t go the full 80, but it’s great to have him back in the mix. He has always been one of our standout players, and yeah, a big Test match, we will need him.”