Rassie’s mom still loves him as Bok coach opts for shake-up

“You know when your mom sends you a message to say she still loves you, things aren’t lekker,” Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said with a laugh as he revealed his team for the return Test against the Wallabies.

It’s been a hard 72 hours for the world champions. But after analysis, discussions and on-field sessions, there is a line under last week’s 38-22 loss against the Wallabies at Ellis Park, and clarity about the future.

Sometimes team selections can look like panic, and if it were any other era of Springbok rugby, making 10 changes to the starting XV would appear to be a knee-jerk reaction to a setback.

But Erasmus has regularly chopped and changed teams – when winning or losing. As head coach, between 2018-19 and again from 2024, he has selected the same starting XV on consecutive weekends only once. That was against Ireland in 2024.

After last week’s 38-22 loss to the Wallabies at Ellis Park, changes were inevitable – four players from that clash are out injured – while a return to some old ways is needed.

There was also a plan to send out a slightly different team in Cape Town, which hinged on victory in Johannesburg. That didn’t happen, so young Ethan Hooker and Morne van den Berg, who were set to gain more experience, miss out.

So does veteran prop Vincent Koch for tactical reasons and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who is one of the four injury casualties from last week.

Erasmus has instead opted to reshuffle his playing squad and revert to the traditional 6-2 split Bomb Squad, for a match expected to be played in rain and on a wet field.

There is also a return for flyhalf Handrè Pollard and fullback Willie le Roux, as well as experienced centre Damien de Allende and wing Cheslin Kolbe.

That quartet alone brings 312 caps worth of experience in addition to their various and varied skill sets.

Pollard and Le Roux bring a great kicking game to the equation.

Grant Williams retains his place at scrumhalf, underlining the notion that he is now the outright front-runner in the position. It also ensures that the brilliant attacking show the Boks put on in the first half last week won’t be completely shelved.

The experienced Cobus Reinach has been added to the bench as scrumhalf cover, with Van den Berg missing out after originally being told he would play.

Locks Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth drop to the bench, allowing RG Snyman a rare start and giving Ruan Nortje a chance to continue his good form as a starter.

Snyman has started only 11 times in his previous 42 Tests.

With Franco Mostert selected at No 7 in place of the injured Pieter-Steph du Toit, the Bok lineout has options. It was an area of the game that malfunctioned last week.

Jean-Luc du Preez is another who makes a rare start, this time at N0 8 with Siya Kolisi out for a month with a knee injury.

Bath tighthead Thomas du Toit finally starts in his favoured position, while Malcolm Marx and Ox Nche are survivors from last weekend.

On paper, it’s a strong team, back row issues notwithstanding.

Mentality

However, the return clash against the Wallabies is more about mentality than playing style and tactics.

Last weekend, the Boks produced a scintillating opening quarter playing some of the most attractive and incisive rugby in Bok history.

The problem was that for varying reasons, which have been dissected at length, they lost their way and Australia pounced.

We all know what went wrong – the breakdown battle fell apart with injuries to Kolisi, Van Staden and Du Toit, the lineouts malfunctioned, the ability to adapt to a more conservative style went missing and defensive structure fell apart.

That is “what happened”. The real question the Boks must find answers to this week is “why it went so wrong”. There was a collective failure of leadership and composure.

“It’s been a while since we lost, and it’s been a while since the game just ran away from us in seven minutes,” Erasmus said.

“When you go through the first session on Monday, the answer starts coming, and then we did attack today, the answer started coming.

“I think as we’re going through the training sessions we were finding the solutions. And one thing was it maybe came too easy in the beginning, and then when it got bad, we couldn’t handle it.”

Erasmus didn’t elaborate further, but he didn’t need to. In many ways it was the perfect storm of losing key players to injury, Australia staying in the fight and lifting a gear at a time that the Boks started faltering, and a lack of composure when the pressure came on.

It’s clear the Boks have hit the reset button and are now totally focused on a better, 80-minute performance. The result will follow if they get the fundamentals right.

Sticking to evolution

Erasmus reminded the media that the Boks played some sublime rugby and that despite the outcome, they will not abandon the plan of growth and evolution.

One loss doesn’t change an entire plan.

That said, the weather forecast for Cape Town will probably demand a more conservative approach this weekend, but it doesn’t mean the plan to be more cutting on attack will be shelved.

“No, no, we can’t (go backwards),” Erasmus said. “We could go back to the style we played in 2019, which I feel Australia is playing at the moment.

“It’s defend, kick him there, and let the opposition play. If you make an error, they pounce on it.

“But we don’t really believe that’s the way we’ll win the next World Cup. And if we just throw everything we’ve done out, we will never win the World Cup (in 2027).

“We’ve worked a lot the last two, three years to get some (new) stuff in place. Last week we just got overexcited and felt the plan was working. We kept putting our foot on the pedal and we ran ourselves off our feet.

“There is a myth that defence tires you more than attack – I don’t believe it. On defence, you don’t have to worry about the ball, but the attacking team does. You can actually rest on defence and then pounce.

“On attack, if you run yourself off your feet and turn the ball over, you’re flat on defence. At altitude, it’s worse. We were chasing our own tail a little bit, and they were really good.

“So, no. We can’t throw all that hard work away. It’s one loss – a bad one and it’s not lekker. But we have clarity now.”

And Rassie’s mom still loves him. DM

Team:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.