Rassie Erasmus not playing mind games by starting Siya Kolisi at 8
Rassie Erasmus has strategically positioned Siya Kolisi at eighthman for the Springboks’ Rugby Championship opener against Australia, emphasising the importance of scrumming and breakdown play, while also announcing the team early to eliminate speculation and focus on training. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
There were a couple of interesting developments at the Springboks press conference with Rassie Erasmus on Monday, and it’s not quite certain if the Bok coach has started the mind games with Australia just yet.
The sides lock horns at Ellis Park on Saturday in their opening match of the Rugby Championship, and Erasmus named his team a day earlier than usual and with skipper Siya Kolisi at eighthman instead of flank.
Even though Erasmus recently said that Kolisi is not a number eight, that now appears to not be the case.
Ultimately though, Erasmus insisted there was little difference where the skipper played among the loose forwards.
Erasmus Explains Strategic Changes for Scrums and Breakdown in Upcoming Game Against Australia
“We actually changed our mind there. The more we practise and prepare we realise that the only position the guy already plays at eight is at scrums. Scrums is probably a thing that happens 13 or 14 times in a game,” said Erasmus at the team announcement in Sandton on Monday.
“But general play is probably the thing that happens the most when we're having a guy like Pieter-Steph [Du Toit] and Marco [Van Staden] and Siya on the field at the same time. We really feel Australia is a big threat at the breakdown. They really bind hard at the breakdown and all three of those guys are really good.”
Erasmus Discusses Kolisi’s Role and Support in the Loose Trio
Erasmus went on to explain at length how Kolisi will be assisted by the other two in the loose trio.
“Guys are cleaning out at the breakdown and we feel we’re going to need that. Siya is probably going to pack six scrums. Sometimes on defence he might be at flank and Marco might be at 8. So the one is happy with the way he’s scrumming. So it’s actually just scrumming where he’s at [8].
“Apart from that the guys will in general play defence and attack. So I know I said a couple of weeks ago Siya is 6 not an 8, but we came to the conclusion that it won’t happen so much in the game where we actually need him at 8.
“And then we have Kwagga [Smith] ha on the bench who can cover us there as well.”
Erasmus Explains Early Team Announcement for Australia Series
As for the announcement of the team early, Erasmus said there was nothing to read into that.
“Because we’ve been preparing for three weeks for Australia, where it doesn’t normally happen.
“It’s normally after the incoming series; the next Test match is a little bit closer or shorter period. Why we are announcing it early is to get the speculation out of the way. You guys can now speculate about the team that is playing. The team knows already who’s playing. Getting this out of the way, we can now just focus on the training.
“If they go 6-2, we might change on Thursday or Friday and bring back RG [Snyman] back into the mix. But if they stay 5-3, this would be our team.
So that’s just to get it out of the way and focus on training. Tomorrow is a pretty heavy day for us. We’ve changed our schedule a little bit in terms of training, and tomorrow is going to be a busy day for us.”