Rassie ready to wield axe

Coach Rassie Erasmus is set to rattle the Springbok cage when he announces his starting lineup today for the Rugby Championship Test on Saturday against Australia in Brisbane.

No fewer than five to six changes are expected to the team who lost their last Test 32-19 to Argentina in Mendoza almost two weeks ago.

While Erasmus stated that he’ll be “conservative in selection” for this weekend the biggest shocks could be the demotion of star hooker Malcolm Marx and flyhalf Handre Pollard to the bench.

But the whole idea of Bongi Mbonambi and Elton Jantjies starting is in order for the explosive Marx and Pollard to hopefully make the required implosion from the bench.

Other changes could involve a new midfield pairing in Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel ahead of Andre Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am, while Pieter-Steph du Toit could replace Francois Louw in the No 6 jersey with captain Siya Kolisi moving over to the openside flank position.

Between his impact players Erasmus would probably make room for both Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse, who will respectively cover the fullback and flyhalf positions while Kolbe could also cover out on the wing.

On the bench both Louw and lock RG Snyman could be joined by frontrowers Beast Mtawarira, Marx and Wilco Louw.

Bok backline coach Mzwandile Stick in the meantime said they have altered their preparations somewhat in order to be ready for an evening kick-off.

“For instance, our field sessions only started at 4pm this week, while Aled (Walters, SA Rugby’s Head of Athletic Performance) also took the players for a gym workout at around 7.30pm on Monday,” he said.

Stick said back home they always play in the late afternoon while over the next two weeks they will be playing in the evening.

“Which obviously means that on match days the boys will be active much later in the day,” he added.