Springboks to settle after experimental rotation phase as Rugby Championship looms, says Rassie Erasmus

IN THREE weeks time, when the Springboks take to the field in their opening Rugby Championship Test against Australia, experimentation will have been done.

According to SA Rugby, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed this after the Georgia Test on Saturday, saying that team selection would be more consistent for the Rugby Championship.

“We’ll name 36 guys on Tuesday for the Australia series, and within that squad there’ll be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play,” he said.

After the Boks' nine-try romp against Georgia, Erasmus said he was satisfied with the 55-10 result but attributed an error-riddled performance to having rotated the squad throughout the four-match series (including the non-Test match against the Barbarians).

The Bok coach said that being able to test new players at such a high level was satisfying, but admitted that playing against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina would be a huge step up.

“The nice thing is that we’ve got a group of 48 players or so that we’ve used this year and there’s quite a couple that we’d also like to give opportunities to like Jaden (Hendrikse), Jordan (Hendrikse), Quan Horn, Renzo (du Plessis).

“But this was a series where we wanted to experiment a little bit, so getting the scorelines we did is pretty satisfying. 

"But the Rugby Championship is definitely a step up.”

In the three matches since the opener against the invitational team in Cape Town, the Bok selectors made 10, 15 and 16 personnel changes in successive weeks.

“We’re fairly happy if you look over the four games,” said Erasmus. “We scored close to 50 points in each match and, apart from the first Italy Test, defended pretty well.

“Georgia were physical and disruptive, but that’s not an excuse for us making so many errors. But I guess we must understand that if we chop and change teams like we have as we’re building squad depth, you’ll lose rhythm.

“We found that again in the last 20 minutes (against Georgia) and we can be fairly happy with the scoreline, although one can always do better.”

Further positives can be found in the fact that it was the Boks’ second successive victory by a margin of 45 points – following the previous week’s 45-0 win over Italy – and took the try tally to 22 in the three Castle Lager Incoming Series Tests with just four conceded.

As for the blips, starting flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed four conversions from five attempts, but Erasmus revealed that the player suffered a hip pointer injury in the warm-up.

“We weren’t quite sure if we should push him through the game, but he wanted to play, but that’s not an excuse for the way he kicked at poles,” the Bok coach said.

“He ran it out and we like guys that try things and not just play safe, and he’s certainly not one of the guys that made the most errors.”

Now with three weeks to settle, fine-tune, and find focus, the Springboks have an opportunity to prepare ahead of their return to action on August 16 at Ellis Park, when they meet Australia in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.