Rassie faces backline posers

Port Elizabeth – With the southwester gusting at 32km/h, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was locked in thought yesterday, gearing himself up to name his team today for their penultimate Rugby Championship game of the season against Australia on Saturday.

With three players ruled out by injury after their last match against the All Blacks in Wellington, Erasmus has to make subtle changes to his backline.

And with the Boks’ tails up, it is believed Erasmus would go for Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel in midfield to replace the injured Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, rather than reuniting the 10-12 combination of Elton Jantjies and Handre Pollard which worked so well during the latter stages of the Wellington Test.

While that combo worked well and might be used again, it was only brought about by extreme injury situations, and the coach stressed that Esterhuizen had been in the structures for a while and knew the set-up.

It could mean a start for Cheslin Kolbe at right wing, though Erasmus might be tempted to bring Sbu Nkosi straight back after his ankle injury or utilise Lionel Mapoe.

The biggest talking point this week, however, was whether Erasmus would retain Willie le Roux, who is set to play in his 49th Test at fullback, or make the bold call of giving young Damian Willemse his first start in Test rugby after two cameos off the bench at flyhalf.

It could also weigh on Erasmus’ mind that players like Le Roux and prop Vincent Koch, who joined the squad only on Monday, had faced jetlag after making the flight from London.

On the bench, Erasmus could go for Marco van Staden or Sikhumbuzo Notshe as his backup loose forward after Francois Louw stayed behind in London with his Bath club.

Meanwhile, Mpho Mokonyama, manager of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, said the support from fans had been “fantastic” and there were only a few tickets left for the 46 000 allocated seats.