OPINION: A much-changed Springbok side won’t want for hunger and intensity in a potentially tricky fixture in Perth.
After watching his side romp to a 33-7 bonus-point win in Brisbane, Rassie Erasmus has made 10 changes to ensure that every player in the 33-man squad gets a run on the two-match tour of Australia.
At a glance, it may appear as if the Bok boss has prioritised long-term development over winning the Test.
A closer look at the side suggests that Erasmus is looking to tick several boxes.
Eight players in the starting XV have 10 caps or fewer.
Scrumhalf Morné van den Berg and lock Ruan Nortje have been handed their run-on debuts, while flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, No.8 Elrigh Louw, hooker Johan Grobbelaar and loosehead prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels will start for just the second time.
It’s not the first gamble Erasmus has taken during his six-year stint with the Boks.
Recent events, of course, would have factored into his calculations.
Having bagged five log points in Brisbane, and having watched New Zealand, the perennial Rugby Championship title favourites, finish the clash against Argentina empty-handed, the Boks have pushed forward with their plans to experiment.
By giving the rest of his squad a run, Erasmus will continue to bolster the team’s depth with a view to the 2027 World Cup.
By giving some of the senior players a rest, he will ensure that more of his veterans are fresh and available for the all-important doubleheader against the All Blacks in South Africa – a series that will shape the final Rugby Championship standings.
There is a third reason to change the side, of course, and it may have something to do with the threat of complacency and the Boks’ results in the recent two-game series.
Back in 2022, the Boks smashed the All Blacks 26-10 in the opening fixture of the Freedom Cup series. The following week, they went down 23-35.
Last month, the Boks powered their way to a 27-20 win over Ireland.
Seven days later, they failed to replicate that accuracy and intensity and lost 24-25.
Most recently, the Boks produced a dominant performance to end an 11-year drought in Brisbane.
There’s a fear that – given the aforementioned pattern – they will head into the next fixture with a complacent attitude and blow the opportunity to win two from two.
Changes to the team will eradicate any complacency and mitigate those concerns.
The big question is whether Erasmus has got the balance of this team right.
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Squad rotation is nothing new for Erasmus and former right-hand man Jacques Nienaber.
They have split the group in the past, keeping a ‘weaker’ team at home while the first-choice side has travelled overseas in preparation for the next fixture.
This strategy won them the 2019 Rugby Championship.
They have got it wrong on occasion, and have admitted as much in the aftermath.
The second Test of the three-match series against Wales is a case in point.
The coaches opted for a side that lacked the necessary balance between youth and experience, and across key combinations.
The outcome was an inaugural loss to the Dragons on home soil.
Has Erasmus learned from those selection mistakes?
Looking at the make-up of this team – and more specifically, the bench – it does appear that he has given the balance of the squad a great deal of thought.
Erasmus has opted for a five-three split between forwards and backs.
This Bomb Squad boasts 419 caps between them.
Five of the eight replacements are double World Cup-winners, while Ox Nché, Grant Williams and Manie Libbok won the title with the Boks in France last year.
If the Test in Perth doesn’t go according to plan, this Bomb Squad could be deployed to chase the game in the second half.
The Wallabies are expected to make changes, but are unlikely to live with the likes of Nché, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch at scrum time.
Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams and Manie Libbok will boost the attack in the latter stages, while Handré Pollard will provide a further kicking option, possibly from the inside centre position.
Eben Etzebeth will bolster the Boks at the line-out, and the leadership group as a whole.
Erasmus will be hoping for a best-case scenario, though.
Wessels, Grobbelaar and Thomas du Toit started together in the big win over Portugal last month, and certainly impressed with their work ethic.
Salmaan Moerat formed part of that starting tight five, and captained the team. The big lock will lead the Boks for a second time this Saturday.
Ruan Nortje played his last Test in 2022, and may take some time to adjust.
On the other hand, he will be ably assisted by veteran Pieter-Steph du Toit – who managed the line-out brilliantly in the absence of a specialist No.5 in Brisbane.
It’s also worth noting that Nortje spearheaded an excellent Bulls pack that progressed to the final of the recent United Rugby Championship.
Four of those Bulls forwards – Wessels, Grobbelaar, Marco van Staden and Louw – will start alongside Nortje this Saturday.
As was the case in Brisbane, the synergy of the pack will determine the success of the backline.
A new-look halfback combination in Van den Berg and Feinberg-Mngomezulu will need time and space to execute the kicking game or – as seen last week – a more expansive approach.
For the first time, Lukhanyo Am will partner Jesse Kriel in the midfield.
It’s a combination with plenty of potential on both sides of the ball.
Erasmus will hope that the centres dovetail with Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Aphelele Fassi.
In the absence of Willie le Roux, Fassi will have a key organisational role to play at the back.
The Wallabies may look at this Bok side and sense an opportunity to hit back after last week’s defeat.
If the hosts do manage to exploit the lack of experience in the Bok combinations, then Erasmus will have the option going to his bench and deploying his veterans.
The Boks may not win by an emphatic margin this week, and they may not bank the try-scoring bonus point.
But they may well come away with the victory and development boxes well and truly ticked.
@rugby365com
