Former Springboks captain John Smit believes that it will be a challenge for Rassie Erasmus to navigate through 2026 ahead of Rugby World Cup year.<\/p>\n
South Africa have become renowned for their rotation policy, which has proved hugely successful following back-to-back world titles.<\/p>\n
It sometimes came at a cost prior to the 2023 triumph, but Erasmus<\/a> has managed to find that balance since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in France by getting results and bringing players through.<\/p>\n Apart from a brief period last year, the Boks<\/a> have remained at the top of the World Rugby rankings, but that will come under threat when the All Blacks visit in August.<\/p>\n How to manage the All Blacks series<\/p>\n Considering the importance of The Greatest Rivalry series, there would a temptation to remain consistent in selection, especially if they win the first Test, but Erasmus generally does not work like that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe kind of experience they\u2019re talking about that Rassie is trying to build is not so much about getting more new players, it\u2019s about getting that group of 60 that he\u2019s pointed out Test matches and experience on the field,\u201d Smit told The Rugby Pod.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the difficulty. This year is such a difficult one for South Africa, a year out from the World Cup. We\u2019ve got the All Blacks four times in a row, we started our season with England and England\u2019s always a tough game, so it\u2019s a hard year to try and rotate squads.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we picked the best we possibly could for the weekend. It was a sign of respect of the opposition and where we are in the season, but it really is a difficult scenario to get through a season where you\u2019ve got a team that don\u2019t mind switching it around.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think South Africa have been consistent in their team selection for the past six years. It\u2019s very seldom you get the same 23, there\u2019s all these different conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis group has become quite used to that whereas back in our day we always wanted to have the same XV week in week out to keep that consistency. It doesn\u2019t seem to be that way for this group.\u201d<\/p>\n