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Rassie the great tinkerer has created a Bok system where the team is everything

Rassie the great tinkerer has created a Bok system where the team is everything
The Wallabies will have to stop Malcolm Marx off the bench in the second Test in Perth this weekend. (Photo: Mark Kolbe / Getty Images)
Craig Ray
By Craig Ray
13 Aug 2024
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Morné van den Berg (scrumhalf) and Ruan Nortjé (lock) will earn their first Test starts in a Springbok team with 10 changes to the starting lineup.

The words “Rassie Erasmus” have become synonymous with rugby innovation and excellence and the Springbok coach was at it again this week with some bold new selections for the clash against the Wallabies in Perth.

There are 10 changes to the team that thumped Australia last weekend but the squad for Perth is still bolstered by 14 Rugby World Cup winners. It’s not a weak squad by any measure.

Erasmus has become widely regarded as the most innovative coach in the world because of his ability to always push boundaries and challenge the norms.

rassie team springboks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu Star young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will partner scrumhalf Morné van den Berg, who makes his first Test start. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Darren England)



From flashing lights on top of a grandstand, to six/two and then seven/one splits on the bench; from choosing to see transformation as an opportunity and not a burden and also broadening the concept to include a change of attitudes and outlooks as well as a racial make-up of a team, he has driven a new mindset.

From picking four scrumhalves in one match to replacing an injured hooker with a flyhalf; from being a water carrier, to plotting a midfield maul, Erasmus has always pushed the limits of the law and of thinking about the game.

Vital job


But perhaps his most revolutionary idea – the most dazzling example of his genius – is not in those and other examples, but in the most obvious, prosaic, and yet most vital duty of a coach – team selection.

Erasmus has changed the notion of what a “best” team looks like. He’s challenged the concept of there being one way to win a game with one set of ideal players.

He has been courageous in the face of criticism for constantly tinkering with team selection. He’s been accused of “disrespecting the opposition” and cheapening the Bok jersey. As ever though, those condemnations are wide of the mark because with Erasmus everything is calculated.

rassie team springboks moerat Tate McDermott of the Wallabies tackles Salmaan Moerat of the Springboks during The Rugby Championship match at Suncorp Stadium on 10 August 2024 in Brisbane. Moerat captains the Boks in Perth at the weekend. (Photo: Morgan Hancock / Getty Images)



His stated goal is to continue to build the team for a tilt at winning a third consecutive Rugby World Cup title in Australia in 2027. To do that he knows change is needed, depth has to constantly be renewed so that when inevitable injuries hit, when form dips and when a surprise is needed, he has covered all possible outcomes.

This is why he has made a raft of changes to a side that thrashed Australia 33-7 last Saturday, to face the Wallabies in Perth this weekend. Change and evolution are constants in the Bok environment and players have to accept it.

Changing vision


Erasmus’s greatest managerial feat has not been part of two successful RWC campaigns. No, his real success is making around 50 highly combative and competitive athletes, used to scrapping for recognition through every level of the game they’ve played, accept that by not playing, by not being selected, they are advancing the Springboks’ cause.

To ask athletes, whose every fibre is honed to winning and by extension fighting for a place to compete at the highest level, to put their egos and personal goals to one side in service of the team and South Africa, is massive. They also forfeit match fees if not selected, but even a hit in the pocket is secondary to the Boks’ cause.

That the Boks have successfully done it, has been Erasmus’s greatest achievement.

How has he done it? The simple answer is honesty – brutal honesty at times. Individuals who don’t buy into the system are quickly dispensed with.

Players that last, understand the plan, the mission and the purpose of the Springboks. No one is in the dark about what’s required and demanded. Weeding out those who refuse to accept the situation has happened and will continue.  

“Honesty is the way we do it,” Erasmus said about selection. “If you’re honest and say to the players, ‘look, this weekend this is what we’re trying to do, and we have 33 of you who have bought in,’ it helps.

“We have a saying in the squad that ‘we all have to eat at the end’. If Tony Brown comes up with a great attacking play, or Jerry Flannery with the best defensive system, or Daan Human with the best scrumming system, it’s irrelevant.

“If you get the right people on the bus and the plane who understand the way we do things, then it works.

“When it comes to crunch matches and deciders (such as RWC knockouts) we will probably pick the best, in-form 23 players.

“We know the characters of the players by now too. Some players, who don’t fall into the system, you give them a chance to accept it. They have a chance to understand that we don’t do anything for individuals and individual milestones and match fees, but we do for South Africa. From there, the right guys on the bus makes a big difference.

“Let’s hope we win on Saturday and that the right guys have been chosen because I think we have a squad that is adaptable and understands what we’re trying to do.”

Exciting selections


To that end, Erasmus has picked a team that looks weaker than last week’s unit, but at the same time sets the pulse racing.

Scrumhalf Morné van den Berg makes his first Test start where he will combine with flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. That has the makings of an exciting little double act.

What about Lukhanyo Am at inside centre with the in-form Jesse Kriel retaining his place at outside centre? It’s a rugby romantics’ dream pairing.

rassie team springboks In-form Jessie Kriel remains at outside centre, partnering the returning Lukhanyo Am. (Photo: Seb Daly / Sportsfile / Gallo Images)



rassie team springboks Am Top centre Lukhanyo Am in action against Australia during the Rugby Championship in Pretoria on 8 July 2023. (Photo: Johann Meintjes / Gallo Images)



Right wing Cheslin Kolbe, the most complete rugby player in the Bok backline, starts again while there are returns for try-glutton Makazole Mapimpi and the wonderfully gifted Aphelele Fassi at fullback. It’s like an endless river of possibility.

rassie team springboks kolbe Cheslin Kolbe in action during the Rugby Championship match against the Australian Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 10 August 2024. (EPA-EFE / Darren England)



The pack, despite a raft of changes, still has a hard edge. The no-nonsense Elrigh Louw starts at No 8 with the indefatigable Pieter-Steph du Toit for company in the back row.

Hard-working Marco van Staden is selected at openside while Salmaan Moerat comes in at lock. He will also lead the team for the second time. Ruan Nortjé is alongside him in the second row.

In the front row, tighthead Thomas du Toit is the next cab off the rank to dish out pain to the Wallabies’ scrum where he will be supported by hooker Johan Grobbelaar and loosehead Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

And for insurance, the bench is stacked with more firepower than a US naval base. Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché and Vincent Koch will be ominously waiting to up the ante after halftime.

Malcolm Marx of the Boks The Wallabies will have to stop Malcolm Marx off the bench in the second Test in Perth this weekend. (Photo: Mark Kolbe / Getty Images)



Eben Etzebeth and Kwagga Smith are also there, while the effervescent Grant Williams is scrumhalf cover. Manie Libbok and Handré Pollard complete the bench, to add to the Wallabies’ problems.

“We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia,” Erasmus said.

“We feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-tier nation, especially away from home, in this match.

“We have a group of about 45 players that are part of our wider squad this season and we’ve seen what most of these players can do. We have full faith in the younger generation of players coming through, and we feel this is the right time to test them against an Australian outfit that will be desperate to bounce back strongly from last weekend.” DM

Springbok team:


15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Reserves: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Handré Pollard.

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