Rassie sticks to his guns
STRATEGY: IDEA IS TO BRING ON FRESH LEGS TO BEEF UP THE PACK LATE ON
Erasmus is relying on the versatility of his squad in Tokyo.
Relying on the explosive power of hooker Malcolm Marx and lock Franco Mostert from the bench has been part of the national team’s strategic plan since their opening loss to the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup, according to Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
Using the same blueprint for team selection as he did in their recent pool fixture against Italy, Erasmus named a strong Bok side yesterday for Sunday’s quarterfinal clash against Japan in Tokyo.
In their victory over Italy, Erasmus had fielded only two backs on the bench, with lock Lood de Jager and hooker Bongi Mbonambi starting ahead of Mostert and Marx, while prop Beast Mtawarira started ahead of Steven Kitshoff.
“We will look at our replacement strategy on a game-by-game basis, and for this opponent we believe we’ll need fresh legs among the forwards at some point,” Erasmus said.
“Japan are a well-coached team and have deservedly climbed to seventh in the world rankings, and it’ll be a good challenge.”
With Erasmus again including only two backs on the bench – scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies and the versatile Frans Steyn – he is expected to send on a fresh front row in the second half.
“We’re very fortunate in that we have a squad that has a number of highly versatile players among the forwards and backs who can slot into a number of positions to cover all eventualities,” Erasmus said.
Only captain Siya Kolisi and centre Damian de Allende, who had been switched from outside centre to his more familiar inside centre position, were retained from the side who won the Boks’ last pool game against Canada.
“We were satisfied with the performance against Italy and want to build on that,” Erasmus said.
No 8 Duane Vermeulen will earn his 50th Bok cap this weekend, joining four other players in the side with at least a half-century of Tests under their belts, including Willie le Roux, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth and Beast Mtawarira.
Showcasing their experience, another four players in the side – Kolisi, De Jager, De Allende and Handré Pollard – have earned more than 40 caps.
“When we set out on this campaign at the start of last season, one of the things we said we wanted to do was broaden and deepen the experience in the squad,” Erasmus said.
“We’re now in a position where everyone in the starting XV has had a proper taste of top-level Test rugby.”