Legendary Wallabies Scrum-half verdict on ‘disrespectful’ Springboks allegation
Legendary Wallabies scrum-half George Gregan has defended the Springboks’ decision to make wholesale changes to their starting line-up for Saturday’s Test with Australia in Perth.
The Springboks made a superb start to the Rugby Championship as they cruised to a 33-7 bonus-point triumph over the Wallabies in their tournament opener at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last week.
That result put them at the the top of the standings after Round One but there was plenty of criticism after Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus made 10 alterations to his run-on side for this weekend’s rematch with the Wallabies at Optus Stadium.
Critics accused Erasmus of being ‘disrespectful’ and of fielding a B team but Gregan disagrees and said he does not understand the criticism the Bok mentor is receiving.
The former Wallabies captain believes Erasmus is simply looking after his players’ welfare and said it’s not the first time that the Boks have opted to ring the changes to their team during a Rugby Championship campaign.
“He’s done that before, where he’s sent two different squads, one to New Zealand, one played in Australia and they got the job done,” Gregan told the Behind the Ruck podcast.
‘The Rugby Championship is a lot of travel’
“I think you talk about player welfare and management, and anyone who’s travelled those distances realises it’s not easy. The Rugby Championship is a lot of travel, which has an impact on your ability to prepare, to manage your squad.
“And you’d like to play your A-team all the time, or your best, but no, you want to play your squad. And that’s the depth of the squad.
“And I think that’s been shown to be really positive, what Rassie’s done over the years.”
New Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt started his coaching tenure with back-to-back victories over Wales before also beating Georgia.
Those results and an excellent record against South Africa in Brisbane – where South Africa have won only once prior to last weekend’s clash – gave the home side plenty of confidence.
It wasn’t to be, however, as the Boks were in a rampant mood and eventually outscored their hosts by five tries to one.
Despite that heavy loss, Gregan does not believe it’s time for the Wallabies to panic and feels they simply got beaten by an outstanding Springboks team on the day.
“I’m always the glass is half full (type of person),” he said. “The Wallabies would have been expecting to compete hard, fight hard at the breakdown, do all the things which they did well in their three lead-up Test matches. But it goes up another level when you play the Springboks.
“But obviously, the Springboks are an incredible team. Well coached by Rassie. Incredible captain in Siya Kolisi.
“With lots of experience across that whole team. They’ve been together for a long period of time and know how to win big games.
“And they get energised by challenges. So the more you talk about the hoodoo of Suncorp and they haven’t had good success there, the more you’re sort of telling them, you know what, let’s add this to our already full resume of success.”
Regarding the Wallabies’ progress under Schmidt and their reaction to that defeat in Brisbane, Gregan said: “I don’t think it’s alarm bells. Because we’ve been inconsistent for a long period of time. And that’s, I guess, the challenge for Joe Schmidt over this next period of time.
“And the messaging coming out of him, the coaching group and the Wallabies is they’re looking to pick and stick (with) and develop these players over a period of time.
Because you just don’t get there by chopping and changing all the time. Doesn’t build confidence. Buzzword cohesion.
“And you sometimes have to go through some difficult times to get success. And that’s what you’re going to get when you play the likes of the Springboks, the likes of the All Blacks and the likes of Argentina in the Rugby Championship. It’s tough rugby.
“And if you’re a little bit off, you’ll get shown out.”
