Springbok greats highlight two South African players who need ‘big game’ in Perth and call out ‘biggest problem’ hampering the Wallabies
Retired Springbok Schalk Burger, inset, has plenty to say about the recalled Elrigh Louw
Retired Springbok enforcer Schalk Burger has named the two South African players who must impress Rassie Erasmus the most this weekend, while ex-skipper Jean de Villiers has given his reason why the Wallabies are not title contenders for Rugby World Cup 2027.
The former teammates have been looking ahead to Sunday’s Test match in Perth, a fixture where Erasmus has made 13 changes to his starting XV following the series-clinching victory over the All Blacks in Baltimore on September 12.
Only lock Eben Etzebeth and wing Ethan Hooker have retained their place in the run-on team, with the coach deciding the time was ripe to test his squad’s strength in depth by promoting several players who didn’t feature – or featured very little – in the four-match Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry clash with New Zealand.
With Sunday being their final outing before the November leg of the Nations Championship in Europe, Erasmus has decided wholesale changes were the best way forward for the one-off match with the Wallabies.
“The sheriff needs to be the sheriff this weekend…”
Full-back Aphelele Fassi and flanker Elrigh Louw are two of the beneficiaries in the reshuffle. Neither player made an appearance in the RGR series, but they are now primed to earn their 19th and 16th caps respectively. With the next World Cup just a year away, it feels like a huge momentum for them to show what they can do.
“It’s a big game for Fassi, I feel, at full-back,” said Burger in the latest episode of Boks Unpacked. “If you look at the RGR, Damian Willemse is obviously far and away the most outstanding full-back in the world, but definitely in the series, he was unbelievable.
“And then off the back of that, even Cheslin Kolbe gets the nod before him [Fassi], and he was incredible until he broke his jaw. It’s a big game for a player like Fassi.
“And now to put another name in there, it’s a big game for Elrigh Louw. If you think about this season so far, we’ve even used Cobus Wiese at blindside sort of ahead of him. The sheriff needs to be the sheriff this weekend.”
With the Springboks coming off a 43-28 win over New Zealand last time out, Burger is expecting them to score a similar number of points even though they have chosen a much-changed team to tackle the Wallabies.
“If you think about how well the Boks played in that last game, that energy and intensity need to be carried through. There are a lot of changes and often with changes it can get a little bit disjointed. Herschel Jantjies gets a start; Handre Pollard, there’s no better 10 to sort of set the tempo for a game, but you want to put the Wallabies under pressure defensively.
“That’s what we sort of got a hold on at the back of the RGR – when we forced the All Blacks to make as many tackles as the Springboks, we just outscored them on pure physicality around the corner, but people don’t realise it’s your strike power.
“Like we go score 40 points, we need to go score close to 40 points again this weekend against the Wallaby side, and then we have got to look at our bench because that’s the one area where we have got a massive advantage.”
De Villiers added: “After being on a high like that [defeating the All Blacks], it’s always dangerous your next task, but that is where Rassie has always been so good in keeping the squad fresh, introducing new guys.
“The nice thing for the Boks is that you look at a lot of these players starting on the weekend; they’ve been part of that group for the last two, three months and they haven’t been able to play.
“Now they get that opportunity. So, like I said in Rassie keeping the squad fresh, he’s now telling them, saying to them, here we go, here’s your opportunity, now you have to be able to back it up and perform with this opportunity you get…
“It’s for those guys to really say, ‘Okay, we are a Springbok team, the standard was set at a RGR level in terms of physicality, in terms of dominance from a set-phase point of view. Can we do it as a group now, as a younger group?’ That’s a great challenge for a group like that.”
One player whose absence from the Springboks match day squad surprised De Villiers was Cameron Hanekom, who delivered huge impact off the bench in Baltimore and scored a try.
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“One name that I’m really surprised is not in this 23 is Cameron Hanekom,” he said. “He kind of fits the mould of a younger player, this younger group coming through. Covers quite a few positions. He didn’t start in any of the RGR games. You said he could play that Kwagga (Smith) role for us towards the end, and he did.”
“How good was he in that Baltimore game? Like the steal, the tackle, his physicality and carrying and on the breakdown? He’s just as good. He’s a proper player,” Burger replied.
The Wallabies are currently enjoying a five-match unbeaten run, something they hadn’t experienced since 2021. Good results have been secured against Italy, Japan (twice) and Argentina (a win and a draw) with the Joe Schmidt era giving way to the Les Kiss tenure, but De Villiers was adamant they are still far from being a World Cup title tip even though they are hosting next year’s tournament.
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“Not yet,” he said when asked if the Wallabies are becoming the real deal. “Not until they sort out their fly-half position. That is the biggest problem. Well, nine and 10 in a way. They just haven’t had consistency.
“If you think (George) Gregan and (Stephen) Larkham, Gregan and Larkham at 10 versus what they have now – they just can’t dominate the game in the way they were able to do it back then.
“And the quality players that they’ve had, even a Nic White at nine being able to control the game, having a fly-half like a Quade Cooper, like a Matt Giteau, so great names and great players that can dictate the game. But they don’t have that yet, and they’re chopping and changing a hell of a lot at nine and 10.”
