VIDEO - Rassie: Calm heads needed for Cape Town clash
REACTION: ‘There are games where we want to grow our team, and then there are games where we want to win.’
Head coach Rassie Erasmus used this phrase when quizzed about his Springbok side to take on the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship Round Four clash.
Pundits and fans have been speculating over team selection throughout the week. On Thursday, Erasmus finally ended the talks and revealed his team for the showdown at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Unlike last week, when the Boks secured a 31-27 at Ellis Park, the 2019 World Cup-winning coach’s team is far from experimental with Handre Pollard back in the No.10 jersey and Willie Le Roux at fullback.
Lukhanyo Am has been named on the bench as Erasmus decided to go with the conventional five-three split between forwards and backs.
It is clear that Erasmus has not left anything to chance – going with tried and tested when the two arch-rivals meet.
A win for South Africa will mean that the back-to-back World Champions will bag the Rugby Championship title and clinch the Freedom Cup for the time since 2009.
It will also mark a fourth straight win for the Springboks over the old foe the All Blacks.
🚨The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split bench !
Full 23: https://t.co/uKMygkvWB8#Rugby365 #Springboks pic.twitter.com/2B38fbj2lw
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) September 5, 2024
“Sometimes there are games where you grow our team and then there are games where we desperately want to win,” Erasmus said, adding: “And winning this game would mean a lot in the Rugby Champs for the last two rounds.
“Not to say you want your best players on the field but you want your best possible players in the group.”
The coach stated players like Salmaan Moerat, who has been sacrificed in favour of the five-three split are unfortunate to miss out.
“There are two loose forwards because Pieter-Steph du Toit can cover lock for us and he is a guy that can play 80 minutes, so it kind of gives you a six-two split momentum.
“I think a guy like Salmaan Moerat is very unlucky not to be in this team.”
Erasmus added: “It is a game where we have to match their speed and we think having three backs on the bench will help in that regard.”
*Article continues below…
Erasmus explained Le Roux and Pollard’s inclusion over Aphelele Fassi and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who have impressive form at the moment.
“Fassi was brilliant [at Ellis Park]. His defence was rock-solid. His kicking and highball game was good.
“We got a guy [Le Roux] that is on 97 caps playing with Handre and I think there are 18 or 19 guys in the group that played at the World Cup, so I don’t think we have been unfair with other guys giving them exposure.
“And we will keep on doing it. I think it’s nice doing it while we winning.
“We have a plan on how want to run things for the next three years and Fassi is part of that plan.”
The coach revealed that this match will require some calm heads in the shape of Pollard and Le Roux, especially on attack.
“Willie and Handre’s calm is needed in a big test match here,” said Erasmus.
“Sacha reminds me a lot of [former All Blacks back] Carlos Spencer like Manie Libbok does, a very reliable goal-kicker and Pollard a reliable goal-kicker.
“If our attack is not working we have to remember who we are playing against. It has been working very well until now, we have the same amount of tries in the tournament.
“So defence also makes it tough, [brothers Jordie and Beauden] Barrett and Rieko Ioane probably know a lot about [Springboks attack coach] Tony Brown and how he sees the game
“They scored four tries. One was Damian [De Allende] giving it to them with Jordie Barrett reading it well after we tried the same move three times in a row… and the other tries were well-organized New Zealand tries.
“We are working hard on that with [Springboks defence coach] Jerry Flannery.
“But not to say they won’t score four tries here, However, we just have to score five.”
