Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says he expects to use 36 players across the four Tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks. SIMON BORCHARDT reports.
The world champions suffered a 33-16 defeat in the first Test at Ellis Park before bouncing back with a 33-26 win at Cape Town Stadium. The teams meet again at FNB Stadium on Saturday, before heading to Baltimore in the USA for the fourth and final Test on 12 September.
Erasmus has opted for continuity for the third Test, but believes the demands of a four-match series will increasingly test the depth of both squads.
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“In the first two games we’ve used 30 players,” he said on Monday. “So it’s already a lot of guys that chopped and changed. I guess by the last game we would have used 36, and that’s almost our whole squad. There will be four players, I think, who will not get a run in this series.”
Erasmus has also been keeping a close eye on the workload of the All Blacks.
“I looked at the minutes the New Zealand players have played over the last six weeks and I looked at the minutes we played over the last six weeks, and we’re probably, per man, 60 minutes less than them. So hopefully punch-drunk won’t come into this game.”
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However, Erasmus acknowledged that finishing strongly has been an issue for his team in the series.
In Cape Town, the Boks led 24-14 at half-time and stretched their advantage to 33-19 in the second half before the All Blacks fought back with a late try and pushed hard for a draw.
“The penalty count in the last 20 minutes normally goes against us, and that’s something that sways the momentum a bit,” he said. “That’s mainly our fault.
“We got yellow cards in the first Test match and, again, the yellow card in the last eight minutes or whatever when Lood [de Jager] went off [in Cape Town].”
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Erasmus pointed to the Boks’ 2023 World Cup campaign, in which they won three successive playoff games by a point, as evidence they can get the job done.
“The teams that played against us had seven-day turnarounds and we had six-day turnarounds. We were flat, but we managed to pull it through, and in most of those games when we picked back-to-back teams.”
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Erasmus believes the series will increasingly take its toll as it progresses.
“I’ve been involved with the Lions series [in 2021] and way back in ’96 with the Springboks as a player, and the series only really gets really, really competitive – not that these two games weren’t competitive – when you start getting injuries in week three, four. Normally the decider is the fourth game.
“I know a lot of people said 4-0 and 3-1, but I thought it would always go down to the wire in the last game.”
Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images
The post Rassie backs Bok depth to tell appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says he expects to use 36 players across the four Tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks.
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