Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admits his experimental selection against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld was a deliberate gamble, writes CLINTON VAN DER BERG.
Erasmus said the team “learned a lot more from this game than the result [a 42-28 win] suggests” as South Africa fielded 12 players with 10 caps or fewer.
He compared the performance to the Boks’ infamous 2018 defeat to Wales in Bloemfontein, insisting the lessons outweighed the scoreline.
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“If you win and you learn, that’s much nicer than losing and learning,” he said, before pointing out the scale of the mismatch in experience: Scotland arrived off wins over England, France and Argentina, with a settled combination built since February, while the Boks fielded a squad missing a host of first-choice players to injury.
“So, cohesion was always going to be a problem,” Erasmus said, “and you could see that in the defence, especially after some of our substitutions.”
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Despite the disjointed selection, Erasmus rated Scotland among the best sides South Africa have faced recently.
“I think the only player missing from Scotland’s squad was Blair Kinghorn, plus Huw Jones,” he said. “Otherwise this is a team ranked fifth in the world.”
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Erasmus disclosed that Canan Moodie had been withdrawn before kick-off after failing a fitness test.
“He wasn’t feeling well during the week. He trained reasonably well on Friday but was carrying a slight hamstring tightness – nothing serious – combined with a bit of fever.”
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Captain Pieter-Steph du Toit said the side had targeted its sluggish defensive line speed at half-time.
“There were gaps we left open, including late in the game, and that’s something we need to fix.”
Erasmus confirmed a raft of experienced players would return for next week’ clash with Wales, as the Boks look to add depth ahead of a big year headlined by Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
Names mentioned included Siya Kolisi, Lood de Jager and Morné van den Berg. There is, however, a concussion doubt over Ethan Hooker.
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“Today we were significantly out-experienced in caps,” he admitted. “It would have been a disaster if we’d lost, but instead we get to fix the mistakes.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post Rassie defends experimental Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admits his experimental selection against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld was a deliberate gamble.
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