Kolisi to pack down at No 8 as Boks send early message to Wallabies for Championship opener

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus laid down an early gauntlet to Australia for the Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park by naming his team on a Monday.

That’s a full five days before the match, which is unusually early, even by the Boks’ standards.

In recent years the Boks have taken to naming their team on a Tuesday, which broke from the tradition of teams naming as late as possible (48 hours before the match) to avoid being overanalysed.

But there is so much player and team data out there these days that any self-respecting coaching staff will have all the detail they need on every player they will face.

Erasmus, as he has always done, is essentially saying to the Wallabies: “This is our team, you know what’s coming, now try and stop us.”

And it will take some stopping, especially at a stadium that has not been kind to the Wallabies in the professional era in which they have lost six times.

While Erasmus’ approach of revealing his team so early could be viewed as gamesmanship, the reality is that Boks have known for weeks what the team will look like.

They break the season down into three large blocs — incoming tours in June/July, Rugby Championship in August and September and the end of year tour in November — and within that there are micro-blocs.

The two Tests against the Wallabies, the two against the All Blacks in New Zealand and then two against the Pumas.

The players know where they stand in terms of selection, assuming everyone is fit.

Cheslin Kolbe (knee) and Damian de Allende (back) are both carrying “niggles” and were not considered, but other than that Erasmus selected from a full-strength squad.

Kolbe could have played, but Erasmus decided against risking him, while the timeline in De Allende’s case is less clear at this stage.

Breakdown focus

Captain Siya Kolisi has been named at No 8 for the first time, in his 94th Test, with Marco van Staden operating from openside flank. There is a clear plan to shore up the breakdown as it was an area Australia did well in against the British & Irish Lions.

With hooker Malcolm Marx another breakdown menace and Kwagga Smith to come from the bench, the Boks have that area well covered for the full 80 minutes.

Erasmus admitted there had been a change of thinking about Kolisi’s versatility.

“A couple of weeks ago, I said Siya is a No 6, not a No 8, but we have changed our minds. Australia have a lot of threats at the breakdown so we wanted to get Marco and Siya in the team,” Erasmus said.

And while Erasmus has named a traditional 5-3 split between forwards and backs among the reserves, the selection of hybrid player André Esterhuizen gives the Boks the option of an extra flank.

Esterhuizen will start at inside centre against the Wallabies. He was used in a hybrid role when he moved to flank against the Barbarians in June, an experiment that went well and which Erasmus said would continue to be used throughout the season.

The pack has a commanding look about it with Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager united in the second row. Pieter-Steph du Toit completes the loose trio, and in tandem with the two locks gives the Boks plenty of lineout options.

Wilco Louw is preferred at tighthead this week with the brilliant Ox Nché at loosehead. The Wallabies might prefer to steer clear of scrums.

“We’ve been experimenting with player combinations during the incoming series and at our conditioning camp in the last two weeks, and we believe this team will allow us to play the type of rugby we want to play against Australia,” said Erasmus.

“The Wallabies will be determined to change their win record against us in the last three seasons and we are confident that the players we selected will be up for the challenge.

“All of the starters except for Edwill have faced them before, and we are confident that he is ready for this challenge.”

Attacking silk

Manie Libbok starts at flyhalf with a backline primed to attack. Try-glutton fullback Aphelele Fassi and wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe make for a salivating attacking back three.

Van der Merwe has scored five tries in three Tests, while Arendse has already amassed 20 tries in 26 Tests. Fassi is also prodigious when it comes to scoring tries, with seven in 12 Tests.

Fassi, though, is a wonderful creator, as well as being superb under the high ball.

Grant Williams at scrumhalf is a massive attacking threat, and Libbok’s ability to bring teammates into the game with his selfless and visionary approach could be significant.

And by all accounts, the work he has put in on a new, faster kicking regimen is paying off.

Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse and Cobus Reinach offer versatility and class from the bench.

It’s a balanced side that will ask significant questions of the Wallabies, while also being able to answer any tough questions Australia might throw back at them.

Reserves props Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Asenathi Ntlabakanye are inexperienced, presenting perhaps the only chink in the Bok make-up simply because of their lack of big-match history.

But they have to gain experience somewhere and there are few better places than Ellis Park.

The Boks have spent two weeks preparing for this match on the back of four good wins during the incoming tours, but they remain respectful of the Wallabies in light of the recent Lions series.

Australia lost the series 2-1 but were unlucky in the second Test. They could just as easily have won the series 2-1, but as it was, they had to settle for a consolation 22-12 third Test victory.

“Australia showed that they are on the right trajectory in their last two matches against the British & Irish Lions, and we have no doubt they will enter this match with confidence and determination to build on those performances,” Erasmus said.

“They are a physical and well-coached team. We’ll certainly not underestimate how much those performances, combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the last few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis Park, will inspire them.

“That said, we have also been working hard to keep building on our game and improve, and we believe our two-week conditioning camp has placed us in the right frame of mind for the Rugby Championship.

“So hopefully we can transfer that hard work into our game to place ourselves in a good position to defend the title.” DM

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse.