Mike Greenaway
The unusual steps taken by Rassie Erasmus to get Springbok talisman Eben Etzebeth into the starting line-up for Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks is all about the Boks going for the jugular in the Rugby Championship.
Etzebeth was not announced in the team yesterday but could still make it through the back door if he shakes off a knee niggle. Erasmus took the unusual step of having his laptop with him at yesterday’s media conference and read out a long list of injured players, many of them locks.
He said that he was not overplaying Etzebeth because he was supposed to have a bit of a break in the second Test against the Wallabies but ended up playing 60 minutes of the match when he replaced (concussed) Salmaan Moerat.
“We have come back from Australia and we are top of the log although if we lose this week, the All Blacks can draw level,” Erasmus said.
“So you think if we win a third and stretch the lead, we are in a good place (to win the Championship) with three games to go. For a game like this, you want to play your best team.”
A call on Etzebeth’s participation is due this morning and it depends on how the 122-cap veteran came through yesterday afternoon’s training session. Erasmus explained how Etzebeth was out of the team but now could be reinstated.
“We announced the team internally on Monday, with Eben out, because our policy is that if you can’t train on a Monday morning, you can’t play on a Saturday or Sunday. But then Eben goes and does the whole training session on Monday.
“I have to look at how this afternoon goes and then we will have a chat with all the players.
“We might make a change because he might have miraculously recovered, and the doc says there is some science behind that, it’s not just the will to play or the occasion of playing the All Blacks.
“If that’s the case, we will be too happy (to play him)."
That would mean one of the forward reserves will drop out.
“It will be very unlucky for one of Marco (van Staden), Elrigh (Louw) and Kwagga (Smith) to be left out. It will be a call between the three of them. We will think clearly and make the call.”
Erasmus said Etzebeth had twisted his knee during a scrumming session but that it was not a “major trauma” injury.
“Look, Eben is not injury-free. We won’t strap him or inject him, but if he can get through today’s session then we will put him back in the team.”
Erasmus was asked whether he thought the All Blacks’ famed aura had dimmed over the past few years because their win ratio has declined sharply from their heyday under captain Richie McCaw.
“We would be stupid if we didn’t respect the All Blacks in the same way we always have,” Erasmus said. “We would be stupid coaches and stupid players and an arrogant nation. We will quickly be put back to sixth in the world where we started (in 2018).
“We beat the All Blacks by only one point in the World Cup,” the coach continued.
“People must understand that even though Razor (Roberston) is a fantastic coach and New Zealand is a rugby-mad nation, it can be unsettling when you lose Richie Mo’unga and the core of your Crusaders players is suddenly not there.”
Erasmus was explaining why the shock home loss to Argentina does not make the All Blacks a bad team.
“They also had a few injuries, including their captain (Scott Barrett), were a trying a new guy at 10 and they caught the Pumas on the wrong day. That doesn’t make him a bad coach and we saw what happened the next week.”
Springbok starting XV: 15-Aphelele Fassi 14-Cheslin Kolbe 13-Jesse Kriel 12-Damian de Allende 11-Kurt-Lee Arendse 10-Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9-Cobus Reinach 8-Jasper Wiese 7-Ben-Jason Dixon 6-Siya Kolisi (captain) 5-Ruan Nortjé 4-Pieter-Steph du Toit 3-Frans Malherbe 2- Bongi Mbonambi 1-Ox Nche; Replacements: 16-Malcolm Marx 17-Gerhard Steenekamp 18-Vincent Koch 19-Marco van Staden 20-Elrigh Louw 21- Kwagga Smith 22-Grant Williams 23-Handré Pollard.