'It is his chance': Rassie clears the air over key selections
SPOTLIGHT: Rassie Erasmus’ confidence in his selections for Saturday’s Test against the Wallabies in Cape Town was there for all to see at a press conference on Tuesday.
After a 22-38 loss against the Aussies at Ellis Park last weekend, coupled with some big injury blows, Erasmus has made 10 changes to his starting line-up for the Rugby Championship Round Two clash.
With Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit both sidelined, there was obviously a huge spotlight on the loose forward selections.
Erasmus has opted to give the No.8 jersey to Jean-Luc du Preez, who has struggled to establish himself as a permanent figure in the Bok team.
The 31-year-old only has 14 caps to his name, but his last appearance was at the back of the scrum against the Barbarians in June.
He takes over the No.8 role from Kolisi, who left the field in the 45th minute in last Saturday’s Test.
Erasmus made it clear that he was comfortable with the depth he has in his current squad and that he wasn’t tempted to bring in cover.
“I don’t think the No.8 position lost us the game, so we are not going to bring in somebody new,” said Erasmus, who also had the option of selecting the versatile Cobus Wiese
“We believe that the guys we have here are doing the job for us, and it is difficult to keep the squad that big.
“I think everyone here [in the press conference room] has asked me in the past when JL [Jean-Luc] is going to get a proper chance, so it is his chance now, and hopefully it goes well.”
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Erasmus also explained his reasoning behind Franco Mostert’s selection at No.7 after Pieter-Steph du Toit was ruled out with a concussion.
“We’ve got a couple of options at No.7, but he [Mostert] has done it many times for us and he is probably one of the guys who is the fittest in the team,” said Erasmus.
“He is very close to what we have in Pieter-Steph, and yes, he knows what we want to do. We all know what we did wrong last weekend.
“To know what you did wrong is easy, but to fix it is not always easy.
“We feel that a guy like Sous [Mostert] will help us in the line-outs and in general [play].
“When the game gets a little bit loose, he can help us tidy it up.”
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