{"id":525058,"date":"2026-06-30T01:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T01:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/525058\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T01:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T01:59:11","slug":"rassie-erasmus-sets-the-tone-for-nations-championship-with-power-packed-lineup-nations-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/525058\/","title":{"rendered":"Rassie Erasmus sets the tone for Nations Championship with power-packed lineup | Nations Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nations Championship<\/a> does not start until Saturday, but for Rassie Erasmus the fun and games have already begun. Sometimes the simplest messages can be the\u00a0most effective and Erasmus\u2019s decision to kickstart the week with an early bang by naming a strong Springbok lineup to face England was another artful initiative by a head coach who loves to be one jump ahead.<\/p>\n

Not only has the heavy thud of a properly stacked Bok team\u00a0sheet instantly set the narrative for the week, it has left England to try to play catch\u2011up if they can. Virtually all South\u00a0Africa\u2019s heaviest hitters \u2013 Siya\u00a0Kolisi, Pieter\u2011Steph\u00a0du\u00a0Toit and Malcolm\u00a0Marx \u2013 will be there to roll out the welcome mat at Ellis\u00a0Park, banishing any idle notion that Erasmus might tinker slightly for the opening fixture.<\/p>\n

No wonder he was in upbeat mood at his squad\u2019s hotel, just up the road from England\u2019s Sandton base. Kolisi will be leading South\u00a0Africa in a Test for a remarkable 72nd time while Cheslin Kolbe and Damian\u00a0Willemse will earn their 50th caps.<\/p>\n

The starting XV, which also includes Eben\u00a0Etzebeth, Ox Nch\u00e9 and Bath\u2019s departing tighthead, Thomas\u00a0du\u00a0Toit, contains a weighty total of 935 caps\u00a0even before the bench enters\u00a0the\u00a0equation.<\/p>\n

There are a few absentees in the shape of the injured Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Franco Mostert, the indisposed Lood de Jager and the rested Wilco Louw, but for the most part it is full metal jacket time. Given England\u2019s most recent previous win at Ellis Park was the small matter of 54 years ago<\/a>, it is hard to classify the visitors as anything other then second\u00a0favourites.<\/p>\n

So much, at any rate, for the theory that England, after their disappointing Six Nations campaign, could catch the Boks slightly off guard. Likewise the claim, previously floated by Erasmus, that this new tournament \u2013 he even intimated he was not entirely sure of its name \u2013 is not South Africa\u2019s top priority. Never believe the powerful crocodile with the big sharp teeth claiming not to be terribly hungry.<\/p>\n

South Africa beat England at Twickenham the last time the two teams met in November 2024. Photograph: Peter Cziborra\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

There is also the uneasy fact that England\u2019s erstwhile head analyst Joe Lewis and former defence coach Felix Jones are now part of South Africa\u2019s brains trust. \u201cYeah, of course,\u201d Erasmus said\u00a0when asked if it might help South Africa to have the inside track on England\u2019s players and patterns. \u201cWithout a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

To some extent, though, it works both ways. \u201cThere\u2019s a guy called Byron McGuigan [a member of England\u2019s coaching staff] who spent a whole week with us as Sale Sharks coach and I\u2019m pretty sure he has a lot of stuff on us. Eddie Jones moved from England to Australia and then Australia to Japan \u2026 some IP gets transferred and it is same with Joe.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideSouth Africa team to face EnglandShow<\/p>\n

Saturday 4 July, 4.40pm BST, Ellis Park, Johannesburg<\/p>\n

D\u00a0Willemse; C\u00a0Kolbe, J\u00a0Kriel, D\u00a0de\u00a0Allende, K-L\u00a0Arendse; M\u00a0Libbok, G\u00a0Williams; O Nch\u00e9, M\u00a0Marx, T\u00a0du\u00a0Toit, E\u00a0Etzebeth, R\u00a0Nortje, S\u00a0Kolisi (capt), P-S\u00a0du\u00a0Toit, J\u00a0Wiese. Replacements J-H\u00a0Wessels, G\u00a0Steenekamp, Z\u00a0Porthen, M\u00a0van Staden, C\u00a0Hanekom, C\u00a0Reinach, A\u00a0Esterhuizen, C\u00a0Moodie.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at any of the tier\u00a0one nations some have five analysts and I think the French have eight guys. I know England also have a lot. We were looking for another analyst and Joe was available. Now we have three, but I still think we\u2019re far off with the other countries. We scan everywhere. It is good to get fresh voices with many ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add in a thrashing of the Barbarians last week<\/a> and England look set to have their work cut out<\/a>. Like everyone else, Erasmus is keen to see exactly how Steve\u00a0Borthwick\u2019s side seek to play but even the most educated guesswork goes only so far. \u201cIt is difficult to comment on what other coaches do and I don\u2019t think it is right,\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is more about analysing facets of their game and seeing how you can win facet by facet. You put it into departments and try and win those departments in order to try and win the game. They will be exactly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is respect, too, for Henry Pollock<\/a>, based on what the Springboks have seen from afar. \u201cWe try to keep our reality close to the truth and the truth is he is a flipping good rugby player,\u201d Erasmus said. \u201cHis teammates also\u00a0probably love him, so what does it matter what the world says? All we can do is analyse how he plays rugby and he is a massive\u00a0threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siya Kolisi (centre, carrying the ball) and his South Africa team warmed up for the Nations Championship by beating the Barbarians 80-31. Photograph: Gallo Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ben Earl, another English back\u2011rower hoping to go toe to toe with South Africa\u2019s pack, is more concerned with ensuring he and his team show the\u00a0best of themselves<\/a> regardless of\u00a0what the Boks produce. \u201cKnowing the guys who\u00a0are now in their backroom staff I\u2019m sure they\u2019ve got a plan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] the moment you put on the England shirt you do seem to find another gear. I hope that\u2019s the case for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cTest match rugby is brutal. It\u2019s almost a different sport to our domestic league at times. You\u2019d argue they\u2019re\u00a0the most physical team in the world so we\u2019re going to have to\u00a0be right on our mettle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nations Championship does not start until Saturday, but for Rassie Erasmus the fun and games have already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-525058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}