Ex-All Black: Rassie Erasmus’ ‘big gamble’ backfires for Springboks as Dave Rennie’s side take advantage of rugby’s ‘new trend’
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks paid the price for starting Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu together in the defeat to the All Blacks.
That is according to former hooker and well-respected pundit James Parsons, who also praised the defensive effort of Dave Rennie’s men in their stunning 33-16 victory at Ellis Park.
As good as the tourists were, the Boks also made far too many errors, with Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who have since been replaced by Cobus Reinach and Handre Pollard for the second Test, among the culprits.
The half-backs lost control of the game, and the All Blacks dominated the latter stages of the contest.
Just one Test start
Before Saturday’s encounter, Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu had started just once together at Test level, and it was ultimately a “big gamble” from Erasmus which did not work.
“Before the game I mentioned that the Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu selection was interesting because they had only played once together and, in such a big game, I felt that was a big gamble,” Parsons said on Sky Sport’s NZ The Breakdown.
The All Blacks played a big role in their struggles, however, with their defence forcing the Springboks into mistakes.
New Zealand prevented the Boks from getting enough quick ball to take advantage of their big carries by holding up the tackler, and that gave the rearguard an opportunity to realign.
“You’ve also got to credit the defence. It has really improved on this tour, and you can only force errors by putting defensive pressure, and that’s what the All Blacks did,” Parsons said.
“I think the tackle percentage is important because it’s this new trend defensively. You heard Andrew Goodman reference it when Ireland were over here, which is creating time in the tackle, and that’s what the All Blacks did.
“It’s great that we got turnovers, but even when we didn’t get the turnovers, you’re buying time for your players to get set defensively to then bring the line speed. That was such a massive play.
“And then rather than looking for that chop hunt in the middle third, it was on the edges where Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie were going for those breakdown turnovers.
“They went in with a plan, and they executed it to precision.”
The Springboks took an early 10-5 lead through Andre Esterhuizen’s try, but that was the only time the back-to-back world champions crossed the whitewash in the match, leaving All Blacks great Mils Muliaina delighted.
All Blacks ‘picking good moments’
“The execution was there. At the beginning of the game they weren’t quite getting in front of the players so they weren’t dominating that space,” Muliaina said.
“South Africa were able to have one-on-ones – you see the try they scored – but the connection in terms of buying themselves time to set up [got better], and that’s all they need.
“Eventually, that creates an opportunity. It might be out in the wider channels, but they’re picking good moments to go and hunt the ball.”
The All Blacks had three tour games in South Africa before the first Test, while the Springboks’ only match since the Nations Championship was a clash with Argentina, and Muliaina felt the hosts were rusty.
“They were a little bit underdone. Sometimes when you’ve won so many games, you’re almost comfortable things are going to happen and it needed that time for them to go, ‘just collect some points, get some boys into the game and start again’, rather than go to the lineout,” he added.
“I’ve been in games where South Africa have missed that first lineout, and you’re thinking, ‘they’re off their game’, but they come back, but there were so many moments when they had the ball that they just didn’t look like they were as fluent as what they could be.”