Why Rassie didn't back rookies to face Italy
REACTION: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus explained why he opted against selecting the six uncapped players in the squad to face Italy in the second leg of the Nations Championship at Allianz Stadium, Turin, on Saturday.
Erasmus’ team selection to face the Azzurri surprised many, given that he historically backed new faces in the squad against teams ranked outside the top five in the World Rugby rankings.
The Bok mentor selected his strongest possible side to face Italy, featuring 10 World Cup winners in the starting XV and a further three on the bench, bringing the total to 13.
Last November, Erasmus raised eyebrows with the shock selection of then Stormers rookie prop Zachary Porthen, who made his Test debut against Japan after just over a handful of performances at franchise level.
This time around, there are no selection surprises following the inclusion of Yaqeen Ahmed, Sebastian de Klerk, Luan Giliomee, Markus Muller, Riley Norton and Emmanuel Tshituka in the squad.
Erasmus explained to Rugby365 why he opted against blooding the new faces in the Springbok squad in a match many expected him to select those players, and what his plans are for that particular group on this tour.
“Firstly, if you just bring in a guy who will come with on tour and he’s experienced the Springbok setup before, for instance, a guy like Vusi Moyo had a taste and would’ve been here had he not dislocated his shoulder,” Erasmus told Rugby365 from the Springboks’ hotel in Turin.
“Yaqeen [Ahmed] is with us now, and he also injured his shoulder and stood on the sidelines at training today [Monday], but the point I want to get to is that it doesn’t help to have a player here and he sees everything but doesn’t get a feel for it.
“If we go to a World Cup, for example, and we’ve got Handre [Pollard], Manie [Libbok] and Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu], we know, for instance, Damian Willemse can also play No.10, but we would also like someone like Vusi Moyo also in the mix [as a backup].
“We could’ve brought 33 players with, but now Riley [Norton] is getting the experience here [is vital].”
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Ahmed’s Springbok tour to be cut short?
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Erasmus added: “Everyone says we’ve got an issue at lock, but Jean Kleyn and Cobus Wiese are still out there, but we know those guys, but we don’t know Riley.
“So, bringing Riley and the rest of the uncapped players on tour, they won’t be bitter for not being selected in a matchday squad; they’re just happy to be here.
“So we could’ve brought 33 players, but we opted for 37, including the youngsters.
“For them it’s a bonus – they’re not missing URC games, they’re training to prepare for good opposition and keeping the older guys on their toes.
“The young guys show some great energy. None of them are guaranteed to get a Test debut, but they’re training four weeks with the squad, so that’s the thinking behind it.”
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Erasmus further explained why he chose not to select new players to face Italy.
“We didn’t want to give those newbies a chance against Italy because we haven’t had sufficient preparation time.
“I got in this morning, and our first training session was this afternoon for our match on Saturday against Italy.
“There’s not a lot of room [for changes] if we want to keep playing consistently well to give the promise the guys game time.”
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