Rassie Erasmus reckons Springboks ‘outsmarted ourselves’ in perfect ‘storm’ as changes give ‘clear indication’ of new approach
Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth, who is on the bench this week, and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Rassie Erasmus is hoping South Africa’s rematch with the Wallabies will be a “grind” as they look to kick-start their Rugby Championship campaign this weekend.
Following a shock defeat to Australia in Johannesburg last Saturday, the Springboks have opted to change 10 of their starting line-up for the upcoming fixture in Cape Town.
Erasmus has also reverted to a 6-2 split on the bench, realising that they got it “totally wrong” at Ellis Park.
With the weather also potentially a factor, it points to a side that is ditching its expansive game plan and instead aiming to use their traditional strengths up front.
Springboks power
“We feel we need it in this game. At altitude, we thought we could run them all over and tire their legs – we got that totally wrong. Maybe we outsmarted ourselves and they played smartly,” the Boks head coach told reporters.
“6-2 here will probably point more to a grind than a running game, and the weather will not allow us to really run around. We were just running and not really being effective last Saturday.”
Few gave the Wallabies a chance in the opening round of the Rugby Championship, particularly with the game taking place at altitude.
If they were to claim a victory in South Africa, most thought it would come in Cape Town rather than Johannesburg, but they were exceptional in the second period and took advantage of the Boks errors.
Erasmus has therefore placed an emphasis on eradicating those mistakes and dominating physically this week.
“Everyone will have the same amount of oxygen at sea level, so we think it will be a grind of a game. If we can have it our way, we will have a grind of a game,” he told SuperSport.
“They [Australia] will know it from our team selection and they will also do the same – have a 6-2 split.”
The Springboks boss has also brought back the Bomb Squad and stacked it with some gargantuan units, including Wilco Louw, Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, as they look to overpower the Wallabies.
‘Clear indication’ of game plan
“Our second half was awful last week so that is a clear indication of why we use those guys,” Erasmus said.
“Wilco hasn’t really ever played off the bench so we are interested to see how he does against a player that is maybe a little bit more tired and the game is a little bit more slower, and he can focus on his scrums.
“Having guys like Lood and Eben on the bench, and Kwagga [Smith] as well, who is pretty experienced, so if we have to close it out at the end or catch up, that is more experience coming on.
“What Willie [le Roux] always brings is a balance in attack of when to kick and when to run and we can all learn from that. It’s a pretty settled team. Last week, no excuses, they beat us, but we know what we did wrong and now we’re going to fix it.”
Four of the 10 changes were as a result of injuries and Erasmus revealed that “some” remained on the field as everything seemed to go wrong in that final hour.
“We had a few injuries and guys had to play out of position. Some guys stayed on the field because we didn’t have any reserves, we had used all eight,” he added.
“Kurt-Lee [Arendse] at the end and Edwill [van der Merwe], they’re both out of the game, Pieter-Steph [du Toit] got concussion, Siya with his knee and we also lost Marco [van Staden].
“It was a little bit of a storm and we didn’t handle that really well, so we have got another chance this weekend.”
