Sir Steve Hansen’s damning verdict on Rassie Erasmus’ selection antics: ‘Name it when you can’
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and an inset of Sir Steve Hansen.
Sir Steve Hansen and Ewen McKenzie have criticised Rassie Erasmus’ late changes ahead of the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test match in Cape Town.
The Springboks head coach initially named his team last Monday but altered his starting XV on the eve of the game following an injury to Handre Pollard, while Cheslin Kolbe was declared fit to play and replaced Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Then an hour before kick-off, Erasmus opted to switch his starting and replacement front-rows around, a decision that has proven to be rather controversial.
Sir Steve Hansen slams late Springboks’ changes
Hansen has now provided his verdict on the Springboks boss’ action, describing it as a “debacle” and a “waste of time”, adding that if the head coach wasn’t able to pick his team on Monday, why didn’t he just delay the announcement until he could.
“No, but you wouldn’t know what he’s going to put on, would you? After last week,” the former All Blacks head coach said on the Rugby Unity podcast when asked whether he was surprised by any of Erasmus‘ selections for the third Test match.
Pressed to provide his take on the late changes before the game, he continued: “It’s a debacle I reckon; it’s just a waste of time.
“You’ve got sports betting, and people are having the first try-scorer, and then all of a sudden the team has changed and the guy you backed has been dropped.
“So it doesn’t achieve anything, like whether he’s trying to play mind games with his players or mind games with the All Blacks, or look really smart, I don’t know. To me, I think it’s a waste of time. Pick your team, and if you can’t pick your team on Monday, then don’t pick it on Monday. Pick it when you can. Name it when you can; pick it properly.”
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Ewen McKenzie’s take
The legendary coach was joined on the show by ex-Wallabies boss Ewen McKenzie, who suggested that the changes may not have been last minute but were part of the planning from the start. He argued that South Africa didn’t even gain an advantage by switching their front-rowers before the game.
“There are only two scenarios, right? He was never going to play that team. So, he practiced with the other one, and that was going to run out. So, everyone knew what was going on within the team. Or he did make the last-minute change, and he did it because the tour agreement rules allowed him to do it. Normal competition rules don’t allow that,” McKenzie said.
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“He’s obviously thumbed through the tour agreement and said, ‘Oh, here’s an opportunity for me and I can do something’. But all it did was put his best front row up against, I think, the best scrummaging front row for New Zealand – so I didn’t see any tactical advantage at all.
“All I saw was confusion; for people watching the game, you turn up. If everyone did, that would be like some other sports. You turn up on a day, and everyone runs into a position and goes, ‘Okay, that’s what it is,’ but that’s not how rugby worked, and everyone knows what the moral rules are. I didn’t see any value or benefit whatsoever.
“Everyone sits there and goes, ‘Oh, it’s a masterstroke. I didn’t see it’. Yeah, they won the game, but not because of that.”
