Nick Mallett believes Rassie Erasmus has good reason to select his strongest available Springbok lineup for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Italy in Turin.
Erasmus on Monday named an experienced match 23, opting against handing any of the six uncapped players in his touring squad – including youngsters like Riley Norton and Markus Muller – their Test debuts.
The Boks also face France in Paris (13 November) and Ireland in Dublin (21 November) before the finals weekend at Twickenham (27-29 November).
South Africa and New Zealand are level on 15 log points at the top of the southern hemisphere standings after claiming three home bonus-point wins in July.
BEAV: All Blacks to outscore Boks
Mallett believes Erasmus’ selection may have been influenced by the Boks’ defeat to the All Blacks in the first Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at Ellis Park. The world champions lost 33-16 before winning the next three Tests.
“What I believe, having looked at this team, is that first loss against the All Blacks was perhaps because of a lack of cohesion in the team,” Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast.
“We’re going into France and Ireland, and it looks like we’re sort of preparing a 23 for four games in a row.”
MALLETT: Moerat in Bakkies category
The former Bok coach expects Erasmus to stick largely with his strongest available combinations as South Africa target a place in the Nations Championship final.
“Rassie has changed his ideas a little bit about this,” said Mallett. “The northern hemisphere tour used to be to blood some youngsters and mix it up, but it looks like he is going with the best team possible despite a couple of guys missing.
“[Eben] Etzebeth obviously, [André] Esterhuizen, [Cheslin] Kolbe. One would argue [Handré] Pollard would have been on the bench anyway.
“This is really a full metal jacket team, and I’m really looking forward to this next month. We have got four amazing games to look forward to.”
Photo: Timothy Rogers/Getty Images
The post Why Rassie picked a ‘full metal jacket team’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Nick Mallett believes Rassie Erasmus has good reason to select his strongest available Springbok lineup for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Italy in Turin.
The post Why Rassie picked a ‘full metal jacket team’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
