Rassie Erasmus predicts a ‘hellishly competitive’ Eden Park battle and highlights five crucial areas
Rassie Erasmus is bracing for a highly competitive encounter against the All Blacks after the two teams named very similar matchday squads for the meeting at Eden Park.
The Springboks head coach has resisted the urge to back a forward-heavy, ‘Bomb Squad’ replacement bench, selecting a more conventional 5-3 split for the encounter.
All Blacks boss Scott Robertson has done the same, with both coaches selecting a lock and a breakdown-oriented loose forward in the form of Du’Plessis Kirifi and Kwagga Smith.
Veteran playmakers Beauden Barrett and Handre Pollard have been named in the respective number 10 jerseys, while both sets of replacement backs include a scrum-half, utility back and centre.
The selection of Pollard has many suggesting that the Springboks will be deploying a more kick-heavy strategy, backtracking from their more expansive game since Tony Brown joined the side’s backroom staff.
Similar team selections
Erasmus believes that the Boks are capable of adopting both styles of play but expects New Zealand to try to play to their strengths by opening up the game and playing quicker.
“I guess, people say ‘you must go back to the way you play’. For us, we think we have to be able to do both kinds of games,” he told reporters in Auckland after naming his matchday 23.
“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.
“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.”
While South Africa beat the All Blacks 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final in 2023, two of their four most recent victories have seen the Boks rack up over 25 points to down the All Blacks.
Key battlegrounds and minimum points tally
Erasmus has set that as the minimum that the Boks have to score in order to beat Robertson’s side.
“I think it’s two different styles, but then history has shown you must score 28 points against New Zealand, I’m not talking World Cups, if you want to beat them. So we also have to score tries, and we’ve got a few plans. I’m not sure if they’re going to work, but hopefully,” he added.
“We have to score tries to get to plus 25 points if we want to win the game.”
Asked where the game would be won or lost, Erasmus was unable to nail it down to one area of the game, name-checking five crucial aspects.
He believes that referee Karl Dickson won’t be a factor, though, describing the Englishman as a ‘good referee’, but did highlight the importance of the bench as well as the breakdown and scrum.
“I looked at the two teams selected, and we’re both going with a 5-3 split and what the two benches bring is very similar. There also hasn’t been a lot between us previously,” he said.
“We’ve got a good referee; we know the way he referees. I think scrum time is going to be big for both teams who have been scrumming well. The team they selected has got guys who are biting really hard at the breakdown. Kwagga coming off the bench and Du’Plessis on the bench – so the make-up of the replacements is pretty much the same.
“Both coaching staffs are expecting a really tight game, and I guess it will be the belief at the vital moments, and that’s how it’s been in the last couple of years.
“I know there was that big 57-0 and we had that big one at Twickenham, but I think it’s belief and momentum-shifting moments that either team handles the best. I can’t pinpoint it to one or two things. In all areas of the pitch, it’s going to be a hellishly competitive.”
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