{"id":884368,"date":"2026-09-08T11:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884368\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:14:09","slug":"springboks-team-v-all-blacks-5-takeaways-as-rassie-erasmus-gambles-on-cohesion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884368\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks team v All Blacks: 5 takeaways as Rassie Erasmus gambles on ‘cohesion’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the announcement of the Springboks<\/a> team for the fourth Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Test match against the All Blacks, here are our five takeaways from Rassie Erasmus\u2019 selections.<\/p>\n

Top Line<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a change of pace for the Springboks<\/a>\u2018 head coach, who has selected largely the same pool of players for the third week in a row, having heavily rotated over the past two international seasons.<\/p>\n

The only changes from Cape Town to Soweto and now Baltimore have been injury-enforced, with Cheslin Kolbe now missing out due to a broken jaw, as Damian Willemse returns to starting in the number 15 jersey. That means over the course of the last Tests, unless Erasmus<\/a> makes late changes, just 24 players will have been used.<\/p>\n

That number does grow once you include those who fell out of the team following the defeat to the All Blacks<\/a> in Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry<\/a> series opener at Ellis Park, but it\u2019s plainly obvious that Erasmus believes that he has found his winning formula against Dave Rennie and isn\u2019t going to tinker with it in the finale.<\/p>\n

So with the series on the line, the Boks head coach has made the aforementioned enforced change and one tactical alteration, with Morne van den Berg switching roles with Cobus Reinach, the latter included among the replacements this week.<\/p>\n

It will be Van den Berg\u2019s first start against the All Blacks, a reward for his match-defining cameo off the bench in Test III at the FNB Stadium, and he partners Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the halfbacks \u2013 Erasmus resisting the urge to promote the in-form pivot Manie Libbok and the serial winner Handre Pollard.<\/p>\n

Van den Berg and Feinberg-Mngomezulu will start together for just the third time in Green and Gold, but they are surrounded by experience as Erasmus has selected the most-capped Springbok loose trio and centre partnership in the form of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper in the former and Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in the latter.<\/p>\n

Ethan Hooker is retained on the wing after his man of the match performance in Johannesburg, as is Kurt-Lee Arendse, with Willemse completing the backline. Eben Etzebeth and Ruan Nortje pair up in the second row once again, as the front of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw is also unchanged.<\/p>\n

Reinach is the only change to the bench as Deon Fourie extends his record as the oldest Springbok player ever as he nears his 40th birthday. He will provide cover at hooker and in the back row. Props Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit will also look to make an impact, along with lock Lood de Jager, loose forward Cameron Hanekom and hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen, with Manie Libbok completing the team.<\/p>\n

Springboks team: Rassie Erasmus makes two changes as Damian Willemse returns for final Greatest Rivalry series Test<\/a><\/p>\n

Sticking to Bok DNA<\/p>\n

Erasmus has repeatedly spoken about the differing styles of play between the two nations, with both the Springboks and All Blacks backing their traditional strengths, and for the series decider, it\u2019s clearly obvious with these selections that South Africa are betting on their DNA for a bit of luck again.<\/p>\n

Luck was the word that the head coach used after the victory at the FNB Stadium, adding that the squad wasn\u2019t getting ahead of themselves after going back-to-back over their fiercest rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a doubt, I\u2019m telling you now, we were certainly nervous. They were nervous, too,\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive series, playing number one and two in the world, and the whole build-up to the thing, it has certainly lived up to that, and I can tell you now we\u2019re not sitting here thinking that we are flipping awesome; we are thinking there was also a lot of luck that went our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

After lacking a cutting edge at Ellis Park, the Boks returned to their default settings in the Mother City and Soweto for Tests II and III and reaped the rewards for doing so, with the mauls and scrums paving their way to victory. The \u2018Bomb Squad\u2019 selections were key too, with Erasmus continuing to bet on a 6-2 hybrid split with Andre Esterhuizen moonlighting as a back-rower and inside centre.<\/p>\n

That and the aerial game are proven formulas for Springboks\u2019 success, and with the All Blacks able to level the series in the United States, it\u2019s no wonder that Erasmus isn\u2019t veering away from them.<\/p>\n

The Boks\u2019 most aggressive scrummagers have been named in the starting XV, along with their most accurate lineout throwing hooker. The most athletic locks have also been named in the starting XV, with De Jager on the bench to run the lineout in the second half. In the back row are powerhouse, hard-working loose forwards whilst the halfbacks can boot the grip off the ball.<\/p>\n

There is no subtlety, deception or disguise around what the Springboks will aim to achieve at the home of the Ravens; they will want to dominate the skies, scrums, mauls and gain-line. But even if they achieve all four, this All Blacks team has proven that it may not be enough.<\/p>\n

Springboks team: Winners and losers as Rassie Erasmus sticks to his word while \u2018slandered\u2019 half-back is rewarded after Soweto heroics<\/a><\/p>\n

Cohesion key to ruthlessness?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably the reason why Erasmus and co have decided to use just 24 players in the last three Test matches, as the Springboks still aren\u2019t converting at a rate that they have in the recent past.<\/p>\n

During the Nations Championship, the Boks averaged more than four points per 22-metre entry against England and Scotland, with that statistic plummeting to 2.8 in the 43-0 win over Wales. That could have been treated as an outlier, but Erasmus\u2019 men produced an even worse 1.4 points per-entry average against Argentina.<\/p>\n

In the defeat to New Zealand at Ellis Park, the men in Green and Gold were extremely wasteful, managing less than a point from their 10 entries, but there has been a significant improvement since. In Cape Town, the average was back to just below five, before slipping to 2.6 in Soweto.<\/p>\n

It has been a theme of the series that the Boks haven\u2019t always made the most of their opportunities in attack while the All Blacks have, with Siya Kolisi also ruing the side\u2019s lack of ruthlessness and cohesion in possession.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Erasmus hinted that this was part of the reason that the team has remained largely unchanged: \u201cWe feel that the team is well settled and all the players delivered in their respective roles in the last two matches, so we believe selecting the same matchday squad, and naming Damian back in his regular position, makes sense for the closing match of the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will cohesion be the ultimate RGR series decider? Only time will tell. As things stand, the Springboks are benefiting from more cohesion for the fourth Test match, with the All Blacks being without Ardie Savea and Luke Jacobson \u2013 who have started every single international game under Rennie. They will also be without Quinn Tupaea, who has been the preferred partner to Jordie Barrett.<\/p>\n

World Rugby has drawn 2027 global showpiece\u2019s potential final into a quarter-final despite knowing exactly what it was doing<\/a><\/p>\n

The fly-half debate<\/p>\n

Manie Libbok\u2019s performance in the latter stages of the games in Cape Town and at the FNB Stadium led to fans crying out for his inclusion in the starting XV for the fourth and final game this weekend, but Erasmus and his staff remain convinced that he is better suited for a role off the bench.<\/p>\n

Instead, it is the out-of-sorts Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who has got the nod in the number 10 jersey. The 24-year-old has struggled to find his best form since returning from an injury he sustained in the United Rugby Championship knockout stages but has been trusted by the coaching ticket to produce in the finale. Erasmus noted his superior defence as part of the reason, with the Boks eager to deny New Zealand a fast start in Baltimore.<\/p>\n

Libbok is no slouch on defence, as he showed at the FNB making several key cover tackles, but there is no doubt that Feinberg-Mngomezulu is better on the front-line and in heavy traffic, particularly from set-pieces.<\/p>\n

Freshness and cohesion have been clear selection criteria this week for the Boks and that\u2019s perhaps why Handre Pollard has also been overlooked. The veteran is lacking match minutes, and the combination of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Libbok isn\u2019t, and both are still young enough to get through four taxing Tests in four weeks with Pollard bound to return against Australia.<\/p>\n

Another factor that probably counted against Libbok is the absence of Kolbe, who has been pinpoint off the tee in the series. Feinberg-Mngomezulu took over the kicking duties when Kolbe left the pitch last time out, which suggests that he is higher in the pecking order for the responsibility.<\/p>\n

Springboks legend claims Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu suffering from \u2018second-year syndrome\u2019 as fly-half verdict offered<\/a><\/p>\n

Countering the All Blacks\u2019 strengths<\/p>\n

Reflecting on Erasmus\u2019 remarks after the Test III victory, we can get an idea of his thoughts around selection, most notably when he said: \u201cThey were definitely on top (in the first half). All of us, I think, envy the way they can handle the ball, and they\u2019re certainly brilliant at that. Luckily, we went in level at halftime, which gives you some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a topic he revisited when speaking about Feinberg-Mngomezulu\u2019s defence. Starting well is clearly a priority for South Africa this week as they don\u2019t want to be playing catch-up against the All Blacks. The bench has been pivotal in the last fortnight for the Boks, but the starters ensured that they were at least in touching distance or level by half-time.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s attack and ability to make the most of their chances have been their biggest strength this series, and that won\u2019t change in the USA. The Boks have been able to wreak havoc in the set-pieces and in the air, but that hasn\u2019t stopped Rennie\u2019s side from scoring 13 tries in three matches.<\/p>\n

Cohesion and consistency in selection aren\u2019t just there to address the Springboks\u2019 inaccuracies in attack but in defence too. The 24 selected in recent weeks will not only be more comfortable with the men on their side of the pitch but will also have more knowledge of those in the black jersey.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Why All Blacks and France are built to stay with the Springboks, whilst England trail behind<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the announcement of the Springboks team for the fourth Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Test match against the All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,1379,818,1182,1736,44,760,85],"class_list":["post-884368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-features","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}