Rassie Erasmus’ verdict on Eben Etzebeth’s Bomb Squad future after destructive cameo
Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth and an inset of head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Eben Etzebeth made a telling impact off the bench for the Springboks in their Rugby Championship victory over the Wallabies but his stint in the Bomb Squad may not last very long.
The most capped Springbok of all-time made a rare appearance off the bench against Australia, while RG Snyman was given the nod in the number four jumper, where he partnered Ruan Nortje for the fixture in Cape Town.
Etzebeth came onto the pitch along with Lood de Jager inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half and ultimately played a pivotal role in the Boks winning the game, scoring a crucial try in the 30-22 triumph.
Eben Etzebeth’s impact
While he made such a big impact in the famed Springboks ‘Bomb Squad’, Rassie Erasmus explained that deploying the veteran forward in that role is not something they are planning to do too often.
The head coach clarified that Etzebeth is one of the fittest forwards in the squad and is able to go deep in matches and hit top speeds more often than those competing for his jersey. Plus, the 33-year-old is more old school in the sense that he prefers to start matches.
“It’s a difficult one to call because of what he brings in lineout and the press, he puts on the opposition nine when they are box kicking,” Erasmus said when asked if Etzebeth could feature more off the bench.
“You kind of lose that a little bit when RG [Snyman] is on the field because Eben is probably one of the fittest guys in the team, and he can go really long at the same pace where RG maybe can’t do it as deep into the game.”
Still, Erasmus was pleased by the performances of his back-five forwards and predicted that there would be an ‘interesting’ selection debate among the coaches for the upcoming games against the All Blacks around the make-up of the bench.
“I think Ruan did well, and so did Lood when he came on. Kwagga, apart from giving away one to two penalties, was really energetic and then Marco is always up there,” he said.
“With Jan-Hendrik back for the next game, it’s going to be an interesting team selection on the balance of the bench.”
Rassie Erasmus rates Springboks’ ‘far from perfect’ win out of 10 as focus shifts to All Blacks
Erasmus will be naming his squad for the two Tests in New Zealand in the next couple of days. He is set to take a squad of 36 to Aotearoa and states that 30 of the spots are pretty much set already with the final places up in the air because medical scans are needed to confirm their involvement.
“We will be announcing a squad of 36 on Sunday or Monday – there are a few guys that need to go for scans – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Edwill van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi. Jan-Hendrik Wessels still has a concussion. Then Willie pulled his groin, and Jean-Luc pulled out with gastro.
“So we had a bit of a disruptive week, and we’ll check all of those guys but we are going to take 36 guys over there – I think 30 is quite clear and then some guys must do some scans.
“We started out with 46 and only 32 trained yesterday. I’m glad we started with such a big squad, but hopefully, on Sunday evening, we will announce otherwise on Monday morning.”
