Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was at pains to explain that Pieter-Steph du Toit’s versatility played a part in picking a five-three bench split – but is it the right call for tomorrow’s showdown with the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium (5pm start)?
The Bok boss made an intriguing decision not to include a specialist lock on the bench, despite the injury-enforced absence of RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Jean Kleyn.
There was almost a nightmare situation before last week’s 31-27 win over New Zealand at Ellis Park, when Eben Etzebeth was initially ruled out with a knee issue – only to come through training unscathed to take up a place on the bench.
Snyman has been the heart and soul of the Bomb Squad since 2019, and having an impactful lock among the substitutes is vital for that second-half surge.
Etzebeth came on in the first half already last week as a blood-bin replacement for Ruan Nortjé, but the latter returned to the second row in the second half, first for Kwagga Smith and then Siya Kolisi.
So, the world champions had that bit of freshness coming on to make an impact, but it could be a different story tomorrow as Erasmus opted for just five forwards among the substitutes, including two loose forwards in Smith and Elrigh Louw, when announcing his team yesterday as he feels that Du Toit can shift to lock in the second half.
The Bok coach admitted that Salmaan Moerat was “very unlucky” to miss out on selection, and with the game probably set to be a tighter affair this time due to the heavier conditions in terms of the weather and pitch, it is a risk to go in with only five forwards instead of six against a fired-up All Black outfit.
“Sometimes there’s games where we want to grow our team, and sometimes there’s games where you desperately want to win. I think trying to win this game would mean a lot in the Rugby Championship, for the last two rounds,” Erasmus said.
“I think a guy like Salmaan Moerat is very unlucky not to be in this team. Pieter-Steph covers lock for us, so we will probably put on the two loose forwards somewhere – which will almost give you the six-two split momentum, if I can say so, because Pieter-Steph is just a guy who can play 80, 80 and 80 (minutes).
“We will probably have to give him a rest somewhere.
“I must say, I saw a few sad faces when we announced the team on Monday. I think Marco (van Staden) must be desperately disappointed – not because he would’ve played in Siya’s place, but that we didn’t go with a six-two.
“But the guys are handling it really well ... Cobus (Reinach), Manie (Libbok). Salmaan, if we went six-two, Salmaan would’ve been in the mix. Even five-three, we thought of a lock and a loose forward.
“But we have the luxury of a Pieter-Steph ... I see Salmaan playing a lot of Test matches for South Africa still, and I see him as a great captain. He’s really somebody that brings something to the party. It’s a calmness about him, it’s a precision thing about him, it’s a really great work ethic.”
There was great relief that captain Siya Kolisi was passed fit despite a fractured nose from a Sam Cane tackle, with Erasmus explaining that the injury will be fixed in two weeks’ time.
Bulls star Canan Moodie gets another chance at right wing due to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s concussion, and he will have his hands full against All Black left wing Mark Tele’a.
A more attrition-based game was also part of the reason that the experienced Willie le Roux and Handré Pollard were recalled at fullback and flyhalf in place of Aphelele Fassi and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, while Grant Williams will hope to up the ante at scrumhalf from the opening whistle.
“I think Willie’s calm head in a big Test match here, Handré’s calm head in a big Test match here ... Look, what Sacha can do – Sacha reminds me a lot of Carlos Spencer, like Manie does,” Erasmus said.
“Sacha is a very reliable goal-kicker. Handré is a very reliable goal-kicker. If our attack is not working, we must remember who we are playing against.
“It’s been working very good up until here – I think we and New Zealand are on the same amount of tries in the tournament.
“We don’t forget the guys like Canan, what they’ve done for us before. (Makazole) Mapimpi’s wife is giving berth, so we didn’t want to keep him away from that. That’s why Canan is in here, and he knows us well.
“As a 19-year-old boy, he came in here and did the goods against Australia away. He had a magnificent game and has been playing really well since, and he is now over all his injuries.
“We feel it’s a game where we will definitely have to match their speed with which they played last week. We think having three backs on the bench will definitely help in that regard.”
Springbok starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolb,e 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche; Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am.