Rassie Erasmus explains shock selection and reveals plans to ‘unleash’ snubbed Springboks star

Rassie Erasmus has revealed the reasoning behind the decision not to select a ‘Bomb Squad’ for the clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park.

South Africa have fielded a forward-heavy bench in all but one of their last four meetings with New Zealand, emerging victorious on each occasion.

In fact, the infamous 7-1 bench was first backed against the men in black at Twickenham Stadium before the Rugby World Cup and then again in the final of the global showpiece, with Erasmus backing a 6-2 and 5-3 split in the two fixtures last year.

However, for the clash at Eden Park, South Africa’s first visit to the iconic venue since 2013, the Springboks head coach has selected the more traditional split of five forwards and three backs.

This could be seen as a consequence of the plethora of absentees in the forward pack, but Erasmus has explained that it was a decision the coaching team reached last week.

Amongst the replacements is one-cap Springbok Ethan Hooker, who debuted in July against Georgia, with the rookie getting the nod over the likes of Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse and Andre Esterhuizen, to name a few.

“We’re going to need speed and pace all over the park.”

Erasmus is preparing for a brutal Test match against the old foe as he attempts to notch up just his second win over the All Blacks in Aotearoa since taking charge of the team, and has selected the fittest and fastest side possible to combat the hosts’ strengths and style of play.

“We feel, honestly, that we’re going to need speed and pace all over the park, and we feel that this team that we’ve picked is the fastest, fittest team that can handle that. But we also feel that we’ve got enough grunt to match and try and get the edge on them in the physicality,” Erasmus said after naming his team.

“We actually decided last week after analysing them that playing here, a five-three bench would probably be the best.

“New Zealand’s natural way is making it loose, making it fast, and that’s why we went with a five-three bench split and that’s why we have young Ethan (Hooker) on the bench, and we have Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) on the bench, and I guess it’s the same with them.

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“I don’t really know if the game’s going to open up, of course, the World Cup final, as always in a must-win, the games get a little more tense, and more brutal and a bit more physical. But once they open you up, you struggle to contain them. So I guess that’s what they’re going to try and do, and we’re probably going to try and make it a bit of a squeeze.”

Erasmus detailed that the decision to select Hooker on the bench was due to the lack of midfield cover, with the Sharks star selected to purely cover the midfield despite playing a large chunk of last season out wide for the Durban-based outfit.

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Willemse’s snub

Meanwhile, veteran full-back Willie le Roux gets the nod in the starting XV ahead of Willemse and Fassi. Willemse usurped Le Roux for the starting number 15 jumper at the Rugby World Cup, but is lacking confidence, according to Erasmus, the coaching team has a plan to unleash him in the coming weeks despite overlooking him for the Eden Park showdown.

“Fassi has had a few starts now this year and Damian Willemse knows what he must work on as a 28-year-old, double Rugby World Cup winner. We know that we have him as a banker there; we know when we are going to unleash him,” he explained.

“We just think with Willie here, who is really helping Canan [Moodie], who knows himself and even though he didn’t have a great game last week, we are still backing him. Having a calmer head at the back with Willie helps a lot.

“With Sacha on the bench means we have cover at 10, 12 and 15, we don’t have a specialist centre on the bench. So Ethan will cover centre for us.”

He added: “We think that we are going to have to match the pace of the All Blacks, that’s why we have picked this team that will need to match the physicality too.

“We thought they were going to go with a 5-3 split, so we picked the team that we think can squeeze a win out against the best team in the world currently. And sometimes we try to put in guys under real pressure to understand what it’s like.

“Light the fire under their butt so they get used to that environment with senior players around them, with matches like Ireland and France coming up later in the year.”

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