Springboks team: Five takeaways as ‘maverick’ Rassie Erasmus ‘raises eyebrows’ but South Africa look for ‘evolution rather than revolution’

Following the announcement of the Springboks team for the Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks in Wellington, here are our five takeaways from Rassie Erasmus’ selections

Springboks’ next generatio

In the Eden Park Test, Erasmus decided to go with the tried and tested. That meant leaning on the experience of the likes of Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux, but this time he has gone for a more youthful looking backline.

On Saturday in Auckland, only Canan Moodie and 29-year-old Grant Williams were under the age of 30 but, by contrast, it is the opposite this weekend with just two players exceeding that key number in Cheslin Kolbe and Cobus Reinach.

It hints that the head coach is very much looking to the future with this selection. He may well have rewarded Reinach for his cameo but, outside of that, it is a backline the Boks could conceivably select at the 2027 World Cup and perhaps even beyond.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Moodie, who has been moved from wing to centre, have long been thought of as future Test centurions, while the versatile Ethan Hooker is the coming force after a hugely impressive couple of seasons for the Sharks.

Damian Willemse is more experienced and a double Rugby World Cup winner, but injuries have rather stopped him from nailing down a place for any consistent length of time. However, this game offers him an opportunity to do just that.

The game plan

With Pollard in situ, the hard-running Damian de Allende at centre, Moodie on the wing and Le Roux at full-back, it pointed to a team that were going to go direct, win the gain line and challenge the All Blacks in the air, squeezing them in areas they struggled in against Argentina.

The start rather put paid to that, though, as New Zealand moved 14-0 ahead early on and forced the Springboks to chase the game. South Africa must be credited for not overplaying and at least sticking to the script, but the starters certainly looked uncomfortable when trying to move the ball.

Williams had a torrid time in dealing with the mess at the breakdown, caused by the hosts’ ruck tactics and their own inaccuracies, but that changed when Reinach came on. He was able to get it away quicker and, with the fleet-footed Feinberg-Mngomezulu alongside him in the backline, they stressed the All Blacks rearguard in the final quarter.

The changes suggest that they will be looking to play wider and, without that big carrier in the backline, they will have to use their footwork, pace and skill to stretch Scott Robertson’s men. Of course, the Boks will not try a repeat of the Johannesburg disaster and it will be evolution rather than revolution, but it is a backline that could be very exciting to watch.

A surprise or not?

For every other coach, if they made this amount of changes, we would claim they were in panic mode but, given that the squad announcement was moved forward, there is a suggestion that these alterations were pre-planned.

As already intimated, some decisions may have been made after the All Blacks loss and judged on their impact when coming on, with Hooker, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Reinach all impressing as replacements, but it would be in keeping with Erasmus’ nature to have this 23 in mind prior to the Eden Park clash.

It does, however, still cause a raising of the eyebrows, particularly in a double header as big as this one. To some degree, you are never quite prepared for Erasmus’ maverick moves, even if they are almost weekly at the moment.

He is certainly not afraid of making the bold calls. Ultimately, the Eden Park encounter was the big target, with the team selection reflecting the enormity of the occasion, but they have gone down a different route in Wellington.

Dropped or rotated?

Another question the selection raises is how many of the decisions are performance-based or whether Erasmus just wanted to give certain individuals an opportunity. The omission of Eben Etzebeth is one which particularly stands out, but it would be a surprise if it has been made on the basis of Saturday.

Marco van Staden is another. Alongside Etzebeth, they have been two of the standout performers in the back five of the scrum, and impressed in defeat on Saturday, but they find themselves out of the 23.

In the backline, if the calls were made on form, they would be far more understandable. Particularly at half-back, Williams and Pollard struggled, while Le Roux was ineffective at full-back.

However, it is certainly surprising, if the team was indeed pre-planned, that Pollard has been omitted from the 23 altogether, particularly with his ability to control the game from the boot

You would have expected the experienced fly-half to be involved in some, way, shape or form if the squad had been decided prior to Test one, but he did not do himself any favours with his display at Eden Park and duly finds himself out of the picture for the Wellington encounter.

Balanced back-row

South Africa have been hit by injury and suspension at number eight, and it ultimately put them at a disadvantage in Auckland. Erasmus had no other option than to play a half-fit Siya Kolisi at the base of the scrum and they failed to garner momentum as a result.

Thanks to Jasper Wiese’s return from suspension after a stupid red card in the July series and Kolisi having another week to get himself match fit, they are now back at full-strength in the back-row. It was an area which the All Blacks dominated on Saturday, with Simon Parker, Ardie Savea and Wallace Sititi shining, but the Boks will back themselves to compete far better this weekend.

Wiese adds an extra out-and-out carrier in the forwards, something they were surprisingly lacking at Eden Park, and quite simply gives them a more balanced loose trio.