Rassie Erasmus’ dismissive ‘wet weather’ verdict and his assessment on where Bongi Mbonambi currently is in the Springbok hooker pecking order
Bongi Mbonambi and, inset, Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has dismissed concerns that his team decided to stay on in the Johannesburg sunshine rather than head to Cape Town last Sunday to prepare for the forecasted rainy conditions versus the All Blacks.
The reigning back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions have been licking their wounds since last Saturday’s 33-16 series-opening loss to New Zealand at Ellis Park.
This Saturday’s second Test is scheduled for Cape Town’s DHL Stadium, but rather than flying south and having a full week of preparation in the Mother City, Erasmus decided it would be better for the Springboks to remain at altitude and train in the Johannesburg sun before travelling on Wednesday afternoon.
Saturday’s current forecast suggests a 45 per cent chance of rain, but this threat of wet-ball rugby wasn’t something he was getting anxious over when quizzed on Tuesday about why his squad is staying on in dry and sunny Johannesburg until midweek.
“To practice in the rain is not going to make your game better…”
“We train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; most other teams train Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. So, we check the weather and I see there’s a 45 per cent chance of rain. But, you know, to practice in the rain is not going to make your game better,” he said.
“For us, the environment where we are here, we’re all used to our rooms; we’re all used to the guys having the recovery things here by the pool and by the ice baths and by the sauna. We’re very comfortable with our training facilities.
“We’re probably just going to fly on Wednesday and leave our stuff here because we’re flying back next Sunday again, and we’re flying on the day before we are actually off, on a Wednesday afternoon where the guys have a Thursday off.
“We’re training at altitude so when we go there, it will be nice to have some more oxygen. So, for us just as a team, we decided it makes more sense for us.”
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Saturday’s match has resulted in a matchday squad recall for the 39-year-old Deon Fourie to provide cover behind Malcolm Marx at the expense of omitted Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Last Saturday’s sub hooker came off the bench to play as sub loosehead rather than at hooker.
Fourie spent most of his stellar career playing in the back row, and while Erasmus said on Tuesday he has been named on the Springboks bench as a specialist hooker for the coming weekend, it led to a query whether a specialist hooker would be needed in the long run to provide cover.
Erasmus hinted it would. “Jan-Hendrik is going to develop as a specialist reserve hooker. It was just Ox (Nche); before last weekend in the last six weeks he only played eight minutes, so for him to last 45 minutes was pretty tough.”
Hooker stocks
Gerhard Steenekamp replaced Nche at Ellis Park, but he only played about 20 minutes before Wessels was introduced by Erasmus as their second loosehead sub, leaving Marx to play the full 80 at hooker.
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“It’s probably a place where Jan-Hendrik in our team will focus more at two and building up slowly. He’s getting game time and he’s getting practice time. He’s getting good scrumming sessions against good, good guys in training sessions.
“And yeah, hopefully when we get to (Australia 2027), you know, I say Andre-Hugo (Venter), everybody’s going to say it’s my son-in-law, but Andre is still there.
“So yeah, at this stage we just feel for this specific game we need a guy like Deon there, but obviously in the long run, you know, Bongi (Mbonambi) is really close to returning again, but Bongi has to play some proper matches now and get it under his belt before we can again look at him.
“Bongi had a knee and then it’s a lower back thing. So, he keeps us up to date and he WhatsApps every now and then to say how he’s doing, but obviously the Sharks medical team must clear him first.
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“So hopefully, I’m not 100 per cent sure which of the two injuries is keeping him out right now, but as I say, we can’t pull him in here and let him play a first match again, a Test match, so we we’ll have to get him in and see him playing maybe a few Currie Cup games and then maybe we can consider him again.
“I haven’t spoken to JP (Pietersen). I’ve only spoken to Bongi, and I honestly don’t know. About three weeks ago I thought he was a week away, but since then I can’t tell you. JP would know that.”
Speaking about the recalled Fourie, Springboks boss Erasmus reminisced: “I know him very well, and I coached him for many years. He played flanker for us and then moved into hooker and, as I said yesterday [Monday] to the guys, the guy is a gymnast, the guy’s a wrestler, and I guess very few people, some at 35, 36 [Frans Malherbe] and others at 39 [Fourie] still make it.
“So yeah, it’s unbelievable, and we feel it’s something not just in his game. It’s also him as a person and how he helps us make decisions and plans and so on. On and off the field, he is very valuable.”
