John Smit: ‘To leave Eben Etzebeth out seems like an absolute tragedy’

Springboks legend John Smit believes that Rassie Erasmus is right to rotate despite Eben Etzebeth’s omission seeming like “an absolute tragedy”.

South Africa’s head coach has taken a risk for the game against the All Blacks this weekend by completely altering the backline.

Erasmus has also left out some key players up front, including their record cap holder Etzebeth, who is not even in the 23.

Even when the Boks rotate, Etzebeth tends to be an ever-present, but they decided to rest him for Saturday’s encounter.

Springboks depth

It is a decision Smit understands and the former captain reckons they have enough depth to cover for his absence, with Lood de Jager starting and RG Snyman coming onto the bench.

“Just take Eben as an example, he’s been an absolute soldier, he’s got to be one of the greatest Springboks we’ve ever had in terms of the physicality that he brings and the way that he plays, and the fact he’s been able to play [so many matches] – he’s the most-capped Springbok,” he told DSPN.

“To leave him out seems like an absolute tragedy for everyone, but you look at what he’s replacing him with and we’ve got an amazing stock in quite a few positions.

“To see a Lood de Jager in there, he was just colossal when he came on [last weekend].”

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Leaving key individuals out of important matches could cause issues, possibly within the Springboks set-up itself, but it is not something Erasmus has ever been afraid to do and Smit insists there is complete buy-in from the players.

‘Even Jesse Kriel’s worried

“You talk about whether or not that would cause uproar within the team, I think the team has learned very, very quickly in this last six-year period that the jersey doesn’t belong to anyone and they’ve got to work for it every week,” he said.

“I was sitting with Jesse a couple of weeks ago and a guy like Jesse Kriel has been amazing and has been captaining the side at times, and even he’s worried about whether he’s going to make the team for the weekend.

“I think that’s the competitiveness within the team. Rassie’s given them the tools and the artillery to be able to win tournaments and they’re extremely grateful for that, but he keeps them on their toes all the time.

“That’s the one thing I really enjoy. You don’t really see a Springboks team just lie down and die, or become complacent, this group keeps on working really hard every game.”

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