Mike Greenaway
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says that if the Springboks do not evolve between now and the 2027 World Cup, they will “die a slow death”.
Erasmus was speaking at his team announcement ahead of Saturday’s second Test against Ireland in Durban and answered a question about the less-than-subtle nuances to their game added by attack coach Tony Brown.
“We have to understand where rugby is headed with the law changes and where World Rugby wants the game to go,” Erasmus said. “If we don’t adapt we will die a slow death, so we must adapt and there is bound to be a few mistakes while we do that.”
The coach added that it is not just growing the attack that is a challenge in the build-up to the 2027 World Cup.
“We did not have the opportunity in 2020 to try new things (after the 2019 World Cup) because of Covid-19 but now we have to try things — not just on attack but on defence, in the scrums and the line-outs, in every facet of the game because rugby changes,” he said.
For now, top of the Erasmus agenda by some margin is beating Ireland on Saturday for a 2-0 clean sweep.
“When you play against New Zealand it is nice to win, and it is nice to beat Wales but Ireland is certainly one of the teams that have been peaking and ruling Six Nations and dominating World XVs, so if we do win the series, it will not just be satisfaction for me but for South Africa, and the team morale because in the last four matches, they are 3-1 up.”
To achieve this, Erasmus has selected the most experienced Springbok team in history and he says he will continue to play his senior citizens as long as they “don’t fall off the pace”.
Erasmus named an unchanged match 23 and the 990 combined Test caps eclipses the 987 caps amassed by the team that won the World Cup final against New Zealand last year.
The Bok boss explained that while he will make sure he has “at least five” top players in each position by the time the 2027 World Cup in Australia comes around, for now winning takes preference.
“We are trying to build depth in every position, and we will over the next three years, but the experienced guys that can still maintain their highest level will be picked until they can’t do it any more. Then our succession planning will kick in,” Erasmus explained.
“We will not be caught short in 2027 but for now our priority is winning momentum and I understand from my playing days that it is not good to throw newcomers in against top teams like Ireland.
“We are trying to build slowly and give guys a taste of Test rugby. You can’t just throw a young guy in against a team like Ireland because it might kill his future. When I played, a few guys were tossed in at the highest level without having been slowly introduced and they didn’t always cope.
“We will see how the big boys last but if they keep playing like they did last week, there is no need to make changes.”
The coach confirmed he will make widespread changes for the match against Portugal in Bloemfontein next week. This is similar to 2022 when Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber gave a raft of players their debut in the second Test against Wales in Bloemfontein.
“Next week, guys like Lukhanyo Am and Canan Moodie will get game time. You will see all the up-and-coming guys get a chance — in the front row, Johan Grobbelaar, Andre-Hugo Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels … I won’t go through the whole team but there will be fresh faces.”
Springbok starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche; Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu