The Springboks thrashed Australia 33-7 in the tournament opener in Brisbane last week and the two sides will do battle again this Saturday in Perth.

However, it will be a vastly changed South African outfit that takes the field with only Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Pieter-Steph du Toit retaining starting roles.

Mass Springboks’ changes

In fact, Erasmus‘ starting XV from the first match contained 836 Tests caps worth of experience with that number plummeting to 332 for this week.

The decision to make so many changes has taken many by surprise despite the result last week and the Bok boss has dismissed any claims that his side is not taking the Rugby Championship seriously or that they are disrespecting Australia.

Erasmus has repeatedly stated that one of the team’s targets is to finally end the wait for another Rugby Championship title, having last won it in 2019, and feels that a much-changed matchday 23 is key to achieving it.

“We won the World Cup but it’s probably important to win the Rugby Championship and build into the next World Cup,” the head coach admitted after naming his team.

“But it is a bit of a slap in the face for the guys playing this weekend if we think that they are not as good as the guys that played last weekend.

“We trust them fully and you look at the squad and there isn’t much to choose from between Frans Malherbe, Thomas du Toit and Vincent Koch.

“Then, Johan Grobbelaar is getting a chance with Malcolm Marx on the bench and we saw how well Aphelele Fassi slotted in previously and learned and competed.”

Not taking the Wallabies lightly

The Bok boss also pointed to the fact that there are still many of the stars who featured in the two successful World Cup campaigns that will run out against the Wallabies.

“There are still 14 Rugby World Cup winners in there and only two guys that are earning first starts,” he added.

“This is not disrespect to Australia and this is not us feeling nonchalant about the game, this is us picking a team that we feel is good enough to still get us the win against a tough Wallabies team that wants to bounce back.

“I think if this week’s team played against the Springboks team that beat the Wallabies last week, they would give them a hell of a go.

“It is going to be interesting to see who steps up in the test arena, in Perth where there are a lot of South African supporters and Australian supporters too. But we trust every one of the players selected and hopefully, we can get the result.”

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All Blacks legend pins Argentina loss on ‘strategic’ shortfalls, urges Scott Robertson to follow Rassie Erasmus’ example

Murray Mexted believes that the All Blacks paid the price for throwing caution to the wind in their defeat to Argentina in the Rugby Championship.

Following the shock loss to Los Pumas, the back-rower has also urged All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson to follow the lead of his Springboks counterpart, Rassie Erasmus, in order to win more Test matches.

All Blacks’ shortfall

The former back-rower, who played 34 Tests for the All Blacks, was critical of Robertson’s tactics in the Rugby Championship opener against Argentina but also noted that the side has lost key individuals following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick’s retirements paired with the injury to Scott Barrett meant that New Zealand had a youthful trio of locks in action against Los Pumas which impacted their set-pieces.

Mexted believes that the fresh faces in the second-row will now need to mentally adjust, having learnt what Test rugby is all about.

“The first thing we have to accept is this is a Test match and it is called that for that exact reason, it is a test,” he told SENZ.

“And when you are tested, you find weaknesses. All of sudden we have lost two of our iconic locks in Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock which is hard to lose.

“So, it is a big deal and we have new players who now probably understand what a Test match is really all about. It will require a mental adjustment.”

Learning from the Springboks

But Mexted was not willing to stick the blame of the result on the youthfulness of the squad and the shaky performance of the lineout.

He did point to the size of the All Blacks coaching staff as well as the lack of strategic tactics, adding that Robertson could learn from Erasmus and how the Springboks approached the Rugby World Cup final.

“Strategically, the coaches, and there are a lot of them with the All Blacks, probably too many coaches frankly, if everyone is putting their five bob in and you get a compromised solution,” he said.

“They do need to look at the game strategically and how they played that game by throwing caution to the wind and they paid the price. In other words, they moved the ball and played to play – which we are the best in the world at – but they threw caution to the wind and you can’t expect to win a big Test match by doing that.

“Rassie Erasmus is the best example of this, the South Africans didn’t care whether they didn’t throw the ball around in the final of the World Cup. All they wanted to do was win the World Cup and I was sitting there thinking ‘Here is a team playing to win and we are playing to play’.

“We were undone by that and everyone has forgotten the strategic game that the Springboks played and I believe that we need to start playing a strategic game to start winning Test matches.”

Half-back struggles

Mexted believes that the All Blacks’ half-backs are partly to blame for the lack of strategic direction against Argentina as he felt that TJ Perenara and Damian McKenzie were simply shifting the ball on without much direction.

“You can really question the decision-making of our nine and ten at the moment – they are very decisive positions – but for the bulk of our game, there seems to be a lot of just catch and pass and not a lot of strategic play. It will have to be looked at,” he added.

“There isn’t anything wrong with McKenzie or TJ, they are bloody good rugby players but the gameplan and their ability to execute it was just not there for this Test match and that’s why we lost the game.”