Bongi and Beast had good moments when we last played the All Blacks
Rassie starts familiar side against All Blacks
‘Steady as she goes’ was pretty much the way Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus approached his team selection for their crunch Rugby World Cup (RWC) opening match against the All Blacks on Saturday. He may feel there is no need to rock the boat at this juncture with his team unbeaten this year and a more than decent recent record against the All Blacks to take in the Yokohama Stadium encounter.
The coach opted to stick with the team that started in their warm-up match against Japan‚ despite the burgeoning contributions of substitutes tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane, loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira and hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
“I remember when I played I got really pissed off when the coach took me off and I wasn’t there when the final whistle goes‚” said Erasmus in the team’s Tokyo Bay hotel.
“Some guys enjoy it more when the final whistle goes and they are there on the field.”
In a roundabout way he was trying to make the point that in order of importance there isn’t much to choose between starting or coming off the bench. “Nowadays the game consists of 23 players. It is very seldom that the front row players only get 10 or 15 minutes. “They normally get 30 to 35‚ or 40 minutes. Bongi and Beast [Mtawarira] had some good moments when we last played the All Blacks there [in New Zealand], which got us back into the game and helped us draw.”
As it stands Steven Kitshoff‚ Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe again crack the nod but they will need to keep playing out of their socks.
The coach certainly is spoilt for choice among the lumbering men and he gave his speedsters the thumbs up when asked how they compare to the All Blacks. “I think speed-wise in the backline we will be OK‚” stressed Erasmus.