Rassie Erasmus reveals the ‘one job’ of a Springboks’ number eight as Marco van Staden tipped for ‘massive impact’ versus Australia
Rassie Erasmus has explained the selection of Marco van Staden at number eight.
Rassie Erasmus has explained the selection of Marco van Staden at number eight for the Springboks clash against Australia in Perth.
It’s the second time that Van Staden will start in the position after doing so against Italy last November, with his other starts in the Green and Gold jersey coming on the side of the scrum.
The decision certainly raised a few eyebrows considering the performances of Cameron Hanekom off the bench against the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, while Elrigh Louw, who has been named in the seven jersey, has also played in the position for club and country.
Rassie Erasmus: “You only scrum at number eight”
However, Erasmus explained the Springboks coaching staff’s thinking around the decision and overall loose forward selections for the weekend’s clash.
“I know you guys probably get a bit frustrated with me, but you only scrum at number eight,” he said.
“In our coaching opinion, you must have one tall loose forward. Now, if that tall loose forward is Elrigh Louw and the other two are shorter guys, then one plays to the ground, and the other one is a good carrier.”
Paul de Villiers completes the back row this weekend with Louw and Van Staden, while Jasper Wiese has been included on the bench after starting all four Tests against New Zealand.
This means that South Africa will have two breakdown threats in the loose trio, while Erasmus also highlights that it is a strength of props Zachery Porthen and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, as well as hooker Johan Grobbelaar.
The head coach predicts that the breakdown will be a ‘massive battle’ against the Wallabies, who possess threats like Fraser McReight, Carlo Tizzano and Josh Canham over the ball.
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Breakdown battle
On the topic of the loose forward selections, he clarified that the only position-specific job that a Bok number eight needs to fulfill is that they can scrummage in the position.
“If you play with Siya [Kolisi] and Jasper, they don’t jump in the lineout; Pieter-Steph [du Toit] does that, so if Louw gets injured, Sous [Mostert] will probably go to seven, and Andre [Esterhuizen] might go to six, and someone might go to inside centre, or Jasper might go to eight.
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“So for us there’s not a specific role for the eighth man apart from scrumming at eight. In the lineouts, the taller loose forward jumps or contests, and you seldom get that there are two lineout jumpers there. So, physically, can he do the job for Daan [Human, Springboks scrum coach] in the scrums? Apart from that, the guy’s got a different role on attack, defence, kicking game, and at the breakdown.
“So it is a team that can contest well at the breakdown. If you take Grobbies, Jan-Hendrik, Zach, Elrigh, Jasper if he comes on, and Andre Esterhuizen. I think the breakdown battle is going to be massive, and I think Marco will have a massive impact there as well, against Fraser McReight and their guys. In their team, there are certainly guys who can disrupt the breakdown. They are really good at that, and hopefully Marco can help sort that out for us.”
