‘It was classic Rassie’ – Ex-Springboks boss weighs in on Erasmus’ controversial late changes
Springboks front rowers Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit with an inset of Rassie Erasmus
Rassie Erasmus has been praised for the changes he made before the second Test match against the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The head coach reacted to the defeat at Ellis Park by overhauling his replacement bench while bringing in Ethan Hooker on the wing when it looked as if Cheslin Kolbe wouldn’t be available for selection.
Handre Pollard was also initially included at fly-half; however, that changed on the eve of the meeting in Cape Town, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu reinstated in the number 10 jersey after the former sustained a calf injury.
An hour before kick-off, Erasmus controversially changed his starting front row for the second Test, with Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit elevated to the run-on team in the place of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw.
The Springboks head coach has since come under fire for making those late alterations to his team, but Nick Mallett believes that he made the right call to change the front row after assessing the conditions in Cape Town.
‘It was classic Rassie Erasmus’
Throughout the week, the weather forecast predicted that it would be raining during the match; however, the skies cleared up before kick-off and Erasmus said that the lighter front rowers were therefore better suited to start the encounter.
“It was classic Rassie,” Mallett, a former Springboks coach, said on SuperSport’s Final Whistle Presents Side Entry.
“He thinks about every single thing, and he told the media afterwards that he expected a wet, slow field and wanted to start with a heavy pack, then bring lighter guys on later.
“When it was drier than he anticipated, he thought perhaps I should put on the lighter front row and save the heavier and more experienced to finish the game. It worked beautifully; it really did.
“If you go back, Wilco Louw came off the bench a lot in the past, even though we know he was the most destructive tighthead. He was often doing the last 30 minutes, and Thomas du Toit was starting.
“Ox has usually started, but he has also spent time in the past coming off the bench and finishing a game, and Malcolm’s done it when Bongi [Mbobambi] has been fit as well. I did think it worked really well.”
One of the big differences between the performances of the Springboks in the first Test and the second was the impact from the bench, with Erasmus throwing Marx and Nche into the mix at a pivotal point in the first half, which ultimately resulted in a try.
In the second half, Andre Esterhuizen came on for Siya Kolisi and made a telling impact, as did Cameron Hanekom, who replaced Jasper Wiese. Manie Libbok and Morne van der Berg also made positive contributions, the former coming on for the injured Damian Willemse while the latter was a tactical change at scrum-half.
“I thought our Bomb Squad made a big difference. The guys who came on all contributed, and the starting XV as well, as everyone really contributed well both on defence and in sticking to the game plan,” Mallett remarked.
It wasn’t just later in the game where the Springboks were vastly improved, but in the opening minutes too, as Jesse Kriel scored the first try of the match following South Africa’s first lineout.
Response to the All Blacks’ Haka
Mallett credited it partly to the late changes that Erasmus made but added that it was a perfect response to the haka, as it was South Africa’s way of responding to the cultural challenge from the New Zealanders.
“It was tangible, even watching the game from the outside, how focused our guys were, and you do respect the haka; it is part of it. Whether it helps or doesn’t help is irrelevant,” he explained.
“What you’ve got to do is use it as a challenge; you’ve got to accept that challenge, and the way you do that is by getting stuck in from the very first second of the game, and that’s what we did.
“A deep kick off pressure on the receiver, a sliced kick out and drive from 30m or 35m out; we started driving more, which is quite unusual in the modern day. You want to do it five yards out, not 35 yards out. But we get some really good purchase and forward.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
“Deon Fourie had a little breakaway, got the ball on the front foot and then on the advantage line, wave after wave of us taking it hard and making yards all the time. No ball out the back. No desire to try and be clever. We were just physically going to take it through them, and Jesse got over. So a great start, really wonderful start to the Test, and that is what I call a response to the haka.
“That’s all very well. You chuck down your challenge, and we’ve accepted it, and we’re going straight back into you by playing really in-your-face rugby; we are accepting that challenge. So, a wonderful game.”
