Rassie turns around Springbok selections to tackle short turnaround

Morgan Bolton|Published

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus made 12 changes to his starting XV to face England tomorrow. Photo: BackpagePix

LONDON: In a day that saw King Charles III celebrate his 76th birthday with a working agenda, the British monarchy was not the only entity feeling the pressure of fatigue and strategy.

By noon yesterday, the day seemed to have already taken its toll on the king, as his very demure motorcade drove down Kensington High Street west-bound – away from Hyde Park, the Wellington Arc and Buckingham Palace and parallel to the Kensington Gardens – and towards some official, royal engagement unknown.

As a handful of South Africans watched on agape, somewhat giddy by the strangeness of it all, Charles was noted, through the presumably bulletproof glass of his claret and black Rolls Royce, enjoying a quick snooze, his head slumped down, resting on his chest.

It was obvious that a power nap was required to replenish the energy levels and move onto the next duty.

Left-field as it might seem, Rassie Erasmus and the Springbok coaching staff, over the past few weeks, have also given some serious consideration regarding rotation and the resting of players, to ensure a fit and ready unit for their clash against England at Twickenham tomorrow (7.40pm kick-off).

It has been a short turnaround for the Boks in their preparation against what will be a desperate team – six days, in fact, since they beat Scotland 32-15.

That turnaround is why Erasmus made 12 changes to the starting XV yesterday for the clash in London, and also the reason why he opted for a more conservative approach regarding his replacements.

The ingenuity of the 6-2 bench will not apply this weekend, and neither will the supposed ‘barbarism’ of the 7-1.

Those changes, Erasmus admitted yesterday, had already been decided some time ago to combat fatigue and the physicality England will bring to the clash – a game-plan the coach believes relies heavily on exhausting the opposition during every play.

“Our thinking was done three weeks ago,” said the Bok mentor, “prior to us even getting on the plane, and also while we were in Jersey (in a training camp on the Channel Island).

“We have been rotating the whole year. We are trying to create quality in depth and also in experience, so that if we get one or two injuries, the third guy is not totally new to the system.

“We are also trying to get versatile players in more than one position… Our six-day turnaround is in this week, so it is to make sure we can handle England’s kicking game, which seems to be something that they fall back on, and their rush defence, which will certainly have a toll on our backs.

“That is why we went with a 5-3 split,” he continued. “Hopefully, our forwards are fresh from not playing 80 minutes.”

As such, the Boks will present a whole new starting backline against England, introducing Grant Williams and Manie Libbok as halfbacks, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel at centre, and a back-three of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and Aphelele Fassi.

In the forwards, meanwhile, only Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Eben Etzebeth retain their starting spots.

The coach admitted that the truncated preparation has had a noticeable impact on their training this week, and that once again it will be the planning that could ensure a third consecutive victory over the Old Enemy.

“You have two training days in which you must put everything into your departments,” Erasmus explained.

“That is why we already picked our backline for England the previous week. The guys – Chessie, Damian, Jesse, Kurt-Lee, Fassi – last Thursday, after helping the guys prepare for Scotland, they turned their heads to England and started analysing them.

“You have less training days and you have less recovery days, so it is quite big.”

Although normal service will resume after the England match, with a full week to prepare for Wales, one suspects that Erasmus and Co have already planned that too.

The coach tentatively suggested some changes for the Cardiff Test as well, with Jordan Hendrikse’s name uttered out loud in passing during the team announcement.

* Morgan Bolton is in London to watch the Springboks v England courtesy of Castle Lager.

Springbok Team

15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Manie Libbok 9 Grant Williams 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 RG Snyman 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Wilco Louw 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.

Bench: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Vincent Koch 19 Elrigh Louw 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Cobus Reinach 22 Handré Pollard 23 Lukhanyo Am.

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