Coach mulls over Boks’ back row

RASSIE GETS TO WORK ON HIS BEST COMBINATION

The Springbok backrow combination for next weekend’s opening Rugby Championship clash in Durban against Argentina is not cast in stone. The Boks finished their preparations in Cape Town yesterday and will take a two-day break before joining up in Durban tomorrow to prepare for their Test week.

And while Bok coach Rassie Erasmus is apparently favouring a backrow combination of newcomer Marco van Staden, captain Siya Kolisi and former skipper Warren Whiteley, he is also still playing around with a few alternative ideas.

With specialist ground players like hooker Malcolm Marx, Van Staden and Cyle Brink in his longterm vision, the question remains where the Bath flanker and experienced Bok campaigner Francois Louw will fit into the puzzle.

“Against certain teams we will need guys with a certain skill,” said Erasmus.

“And we need guys who can contest on the ground like a Malcolm, Flo (Louw) and Marco, those kind of guys.

“But we can’t just rely on ripping the ball away and hope they make mistakes,” he said.

And while Whiteley is a traditional linking No 8 he is very different to somebody like Duane Vermeulen whose grunt will be missed and this is where Louw and Van Staden, who both can play in that position, come into the equation.

“Flo played a wonderful game at No 8 at Newlands against New Zealand after the 57-0 drubbing we got earlier in Albany,” said Erasmus.

“And I coached him when he was just 21 at Western Province, so he is versatile and they (he and Whiteley) might line up at the same time depending on who is the opposition,” he said.

Erasmus said in the June Tests they came away with the ball-ripping effect against England, but said, with all due respect to them, they don’t have the individual skills of some of the players in the southern hemisphere.

“In the southern hemisphere they can just break you up and score tries from their own tryline,” he said.

“England relied more on mini-moves while southern hemisphere boys are more your X-factor type.”

We can’t just rely on ripping the ball away and hope they make mistakes. Rassie Erasmus Springbok coach