Springboks: Rassie Erasmus reveals Malcolm Marx experiment that could debut versus Australia
Rassie Erasmus has plans to experiment with the best player in the world.
Rassie Erasmus has hinted that the Springboks could debut their latest experiment against the Wallabies this weekend in Perth.
The head coach has made sweeping changes to his starting XV for the one-off clash against Australia, with just two players retaining their positions from the team that defeated the All Blacks in Baltimore: Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker.
They are two of nine players who featured in the fourth Test in the USA, with seven others named among the replacements.
Sweeping changes
Speaking ahead of the meeting with Les Kiss’ side in Western Australia, Erasmus explained that there was a need to freshen up the Springboks‘ squad after a gruelling four matches against New Zealand, particularly after the coaching team opted to back consistency in selection.
He added that it was also time to reward the squad members who helped prepare the team for the matches against the All Blacks, many of whom haven’t had much game time over the past 16 weeks.
While it is a largely changed team, it is one that Erasmus has plenty of confidence in, as several players have played for the Wallabies previously, while the bench is stacked with in-form players who were crucial in defeating the All Blacks.
That is an insurance policy of sorts for South Africa if things aren’t quite going right, something that the head coach admits, but he is leaving room for experimentation if the opportunity presents itself. The Boks have made no secret of how much they value versatility, with this weekend’s captain Andre Esterhuizen becoming a ‘hybrid’ option for the side over the past 24 months, playing flank and centre.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels has also been praised for his ability to play loosehead prop and hooker, and Erasmus is seemingly looking to expand on his versatility stocks, this time with current World Rugby Player of the Year, Malcolm Marx.
Malcolm Marx experiment
The 32-year-old has played exclusively in the middle of the front row, but Erasmus revealed that they could trial him on the side of the scrum against the Wallabies, something that they have been working on in training.
“Jan-Hendrik Wessels has played for us previously against Australia. Johan Grobbelaar has started for us against Australia. So most of these guys know what it’s like,” the head coach said after naming his team on Tuesday.
“Jan-Hendrik is a nice swinger; he plays one and two for us. So in this specific game, we feel we’re giving him a chance. Grobbies has always been solid for us.
“We felt that after Deon Fourie played so well in the Stormers game, what he could bring to the team from a knowledge, character-wise, and leadership point of view would mean a hell of a lot for us during the New Zealand series, and he certainly did.
“But with him playing three Test matches in a row at the age of 39, Grobbies deserves a chance now. Even later in the game, if Ox Nche comes up, Jan-Hendrik might move to hooker, and we’ve been trying Malcolm on the flank a little bit.
“So we’re trying to spare, save the bodies and manage the guys whilst winning, but building some squad depth and getting some caps into certain guys where we feel we’re going to need at the World Cup. So it’s a combination of things.”
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Providing opportunities
He further explained that it was important to reward players for their work over the past four months.
“Most of the guys haven’t played a lot this season. So, we’re giving guys an opportunity who haven’t played and have been working very hard with us for 16 weeks. We’ve been together for 16 weeks now,” he said.
“They carried us through the All Blacks series, and they’ve really painted good pictures of being All Black players for us. And we’ve got the guys on the bench except maybe Quan Horn, who really had a good run during the All Blacks test. So we basically just swap guys around.”
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