All Blacks great: ‘He did a Rassie… That would give me the absolute sh*ts’
Former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall was left baffled by Rassie Erasmus’ early substitution calls in the Springboks’ comprehensive victory over New Zealand in Wellington.
Erasmus has become renowned for his unique use of the replacements bench during his time in charge of South Africa, and while he didn’t deploy a Bomb Squad in the Test match at Sky Stadium, the Bok boss still managed to make some interesting calls that perplexed the ex-number nine.
The Springboks were plagued with injuries in the clash in Wellington, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager and Aphelele Fassi permanently forced off the pitch in the first half, with Cobus Reinach also going off for an HIA, which he passed.
Cheslin Kolbe would also be forced off in the second half after completing his brace, but it was what occurred before that replacement that stunned Marshall and former Wallabies hooker Jeremy Paul.
“He did a Rassie”
Inside the opening two minutes of the second half, Erasmus opted to replace both of his starting props, Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit, who left proceedings ahead of the first scrum of the second 40.
The former All Black and Wallaby said that this would give them ‘the sh*ts’ if it happened to them during their playing days.
“He did a Rassie,” Marshall said on the Good, Bad and Rugby AUNZ podcast.
“I think it was one minute and 30 seconds into the second half, and he changed the two props. Everyone was thinking, ‘Why didn’t you just do that at half-time?’. They didn’t even get a chance to scrum, they came back out, trotted around for a bit and then it’s like ‘off you come’.
“I don’t think they would have even touched the ball or hit a ruck, maybe they made a tackle, I don’t know.
“That would give me the absolute sh*ts.”
While Marshall and Paul were clearly amused by the decision, the latter said that it would certainly annoy him as he used to switch his jersey at the break.
“It would for me too because I used to change my jersey at half-time, I always had to do so, so I’d have a fresh minute-worn jersey,” he said.
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“Nek minute”
Barely containing his laughter, Marshall further detailed how brutal the call would be with a starting player going through the emotions in the changing room, worrying about if they would get the hook at the break or not.
“But the thing is, it’s going well for South Africa at that stage, they were only behind by three at that stage, so you go into the sheds… and the coach starts talking to you and that makes you nervous for starters, if it’s a one-on-one, you think ‘What have I done?’
“You kind of avoid that, then it’s backs and forwards split, then everyone comes together and you think ‘Alright, I’m avoiding it at the moment’. When you get in that final huddle, you are safe and think, ‘Yes! I’ve got another 20 or 30 minutes at least, or probably the whole half.’
“Then he, these two poor guys, thought that they avoided being yanked off and the ‘nek minute’, 1.20 minutes into it, they were off in the second half, they thought they avoided the cull.”
Joking aside, Paul was impressed with Erasmus’ selections for the fixture.
“I thought his selections and when he put his reserves on, look he didn’t Bomb Squad it and throw them all in at once,” said the former front-rower.
“He brought them on at strategic times when he knew that the player could change the momentum of the game, that I thought was a real masterstroke from him.”
