Rassie Erasmus explains ‘chops and changes’ for Australia and why the Springboks have ‘to roll the dice’
Rassie Erasmus believes that it was was necessary to make wholesale changes to the Springboks matchday 23.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has said it was necessary to make wholesale changes to the matchday 23 ahead of their game against the Wallabies on Sunday.
The starting XV that will tackle Australia in Perth features 13 new faces from the team that defeated the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series finale in the United States of America.
The overhaul comes after Erasmus utilised just 24 players in the latter three Test matches, backing cohesion and experience to secure a series victory. He has now freshened up his side, with the starting side boasting 355 fewer caps than the one that beat New Zealand.
It was a change of tack from the Springboks coaching team to back consistency in selection against the All Blacks, one that Erasmus believes was a bit of a gamble.
Winning now and at the World Cup
But now that they have that series victory in the bag, focus turns to the one-off clash against the Wallabies, where he is rewarding those squad members who helped prepare the team for the All Blacks.
According to the head coach, all of this is part of South Africa’s goal of not just winning World Cups but winning the matches in between World Rugby’s showpiece event. The Springboks weren’t overly successful in doing so between the 2019 and 2023 tournaments have had more success in doing so post the latter, a trend Erasmus hopes continues.
“There are two ways we could have tackled this over the last six weeks. I always think six weeks is a good indication of game minutes, and these guys are probably on 140 minutes,” he explained after naming his team to face the Wallabies.
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“Most of these guys, if you take the average of that, some obviously stack it up like Ethan Hooker, who makes it a lot because he’s played a lot, and a guy like Herschel has played probably 40 minutes. So, not every player has got 140 minutes.
“The balance could have been, listen, let’s chop and change against New Zealand and we lose the series. There’s always a balance between fans and the media; you need to understand that we’re building to the World Cup, and we are trying to win between World Cups, and sometimes you have to roll the dice.
“Now, we rolled the dice a little bit against the All Blacks by playing the same team consistently and obviously getting some momentum as it goes on longer.”
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Fired-up Springboks
Seven of the eight replacements named for the meeting in Perth featured in the team that won the Baltimore RGR Test match and could well have started this weekend. However, Erasmus explained that had they continued to select the same players, they wouldn’t learn more about the squad and build depth.
Furthermore, many of the players who will face the Wallabies played in the win over Argentina before the RGR series. After missing the matches against the All Blacks, Erasmus says that they are hungry for their opportunity.
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“If we keep on doing that, how would we know when we get to the Nations Championship at the end of the year or at the World Cup next year what the next guy can do? When we went to Argentina, a lot of these guys also played there, and it was a bit of a stop-and-start and a non-cohesive performance. I don’t think they got a fire from the start, but I can tell you that they’re really hungry,” he added.
“They really, really want to play, and they’ve been idling for a hell of a long time. Some of them had some game time. Hopefully it won’t be too sticky in the beginning, but it’s not like Australia has played 300 minutes in the last 3 weeks. I think we’ll be okay.”
