Rassie Erasmus’ brave selections have laid the platform for future Bok success

By every metric, 2024 has been a landmark year for the Springboks.

Past teams have recorded 85% win records, and have claimed Rugby Championship titles as well as clean sweeps of Europe. No South African team, however, has achieved all of this in a single season.

The stats show how the Boks have taken their game plan forward in 2024. Rassie Erasmus’ charges have averaged more points and tries scored, while their defence and tactical kicking numbers remain as formidable as ever.

The big story of 2024, of course, is the fact that Erasmus has achieved these results and boosted the stats while building for the future.

50 players used in 2024

Earlier this year, Erasmus told the media to expect a few setbacks over the course of the 2024 season as he experimented with new combinations with a view to peaking at the 2027 World Cup.

Nobody could have predicted that he would rotate his team to such an extent over the course of 13 matches, or that the various combinations would combine for 11 wins and two narrow losses.

Now that the season is complete, it’s worth reflecting on those selections and what they tell us about Erasmus’ plans for the future.

While upwards of 60 players have been invited to various alignment camps and trained with the Boks over the course of the year, an impressive number of 50 were used across the 13 Tests.

That figure includes 29 of the 35 players who featured at the 2023 World Cup – and Erasmus has gone out of his way to name-check other injured veterans such as Lood de Jager, Steven Kitshoff and Damian Willemse to remind all and sundry that they remain a part of his long-term plans.

At the same time, the Bok coach has made it clear that the age profile of the group needs to change over the next few years to ensure that a greater balance between youth and experience is struck at the 2027 World Cup.

Balance — Rassie’s secret sauce

Balance in selection has been the key to the Boks’ success in 2024.

Erasmus has blooded 12 new players over the course of the season and has given seven more fringe players – who had five caps or fewer at the start of the year – more opportunities to impress.

Significantly, Erasmus has never picked a completely old or young combination from one week to the next. The Bok coach has endeavoured to mix it up, with the aim of producing short-term results and finding some long-term answers.

While there have been one or two injury dramas along the way, most of the changes have been unforced.

When you break down the selections position by position, you start to understand what Erasmus has tried to build in terms of experience and synergy across the respective units.

A closer look at the numbers gives one a greater appreciation of how much the Boks chopped and changed and casts the winning ratio of 85% in a more impressive light.

Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende started together eight times this season – more than any other combination. This is an example of Erasmus backing an experienced combo in one department and rotating various players around it.

The most used combination, in fact, was the reserve front row of Gerhard Steenekamp, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch, who played together nine times.

The aforementioned combinations suggest that Erasmus did strive for some stability over the course of the season. By and large, he rotated the players and altered the respective units – nowhere more so than at scrumhalf and flyhalf.

One can understand why Erasmus might use 11 different halfback combinations over 13 Tests with an eye to the future. For the first part of his tenure, the lack of depth at No 10 was a big concern.

That said, mixing and matching the starting combinations to such an extent was a bold move.

Most coaches may have opted for a more settled halfback pairing, especially during a period of tactical transition.

Somehow Erasmus managed to alter the game plan and win consistently while rotating his No 9 and No 10 on a near-weekly basis.

Bomb Squad evolution

Fans and media have come to accept that the starting XV is not the be-all and end-all in modern rugby and that the entire matchday 23 has a crucial role to play.

Erasmus has harnessed the power of his Bomb Squad to great effect over the past six years and has taken things forward in this department over the past 12 months.

The law tweaks that favour a high-tempo attack have led to a new approach by the Boks and some interesting selections on the bench.

There is still a time and place for the 7-1 and 6-2 splits that harness the set-piece power of a reserve tight five.

But in 2024, Erasmus has favoured two variations of the 5-3 split, with the aim of boosting his backline attack in the closing stages of a match.

Some of Erasmus’ changes and experimentations have yielded results, and some haven’t – at least not yet.

What’s been clear is that the Boks have more options than ever. They have the tools to employ a kick-chase strategy or an all-out attacking approach, and they have the means to bolster their bench with set-piece specialists or attacking impact players.

Spare a thought for the opposition coaching staff that attempts to predict who the Boks might pick or how they might play on any given Saturday.

While they still boast a large group of double World Cup winners, as many as 19 “fringe” players – new caps as well as those who were used sparingly prior to 2024 – have been successfully integrated into the squad. Aphelele Fassi, Elrigh Louw and Steenekamp – a trio that didn’t travel to the 2023 World Cup – were among the most used players in 2024.

Erasmus will continue to tinker with his team in 2025.

The nature of the never-ending South African rugby season will require careful management of the players, but as seen in 2024, Erasmus has developed his squad to the point where he can select two different teams on consecutive weekends without compromising the drive for results.

More youngsters will push for a chance in this squad over the next 12 months, while a few more veterans will return from lengthy injury layoffs.

The list of available options will grow, as will South Africa’s chances of another dominant season. DM