Kudos to Rassie Erasmus. The coach has remained committed to giving all his South African players a chance to play and allowing new talent to face strong opponents, and he’s following through on that.
The unbeaten Springboks have a chance to win the Rugby Championship in Argentina this Saturday with one game still to go.
Erasmus made 10 changes between the tests against Australia last month, which paid off, and he made another 10 changes this week even though the championship is on the line.
Despite having a two-week break between games, he rested seven players who were in last year’s Rugby World Cup final, including captain Siya Kolisi. He also left breakout flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at home and put Eben Etzebeth, who is one cap away from tying Victor Matfield’s record, on the bench.
Erasmus, who already has many World Cup winners, is rotating players to develop at least two or three strong options in every position as they aim for a third straight World Cup victory.
They have three years and more than 30 tests to explore this depth.
This month, the depth Erasmus has built was evident in matches against their biggest rivals, New Zealand. In both games, the Springboks were behind at halftime but managed to win, scoring late in both matches.
What Erasmus is risking against the unpredictable Pumas in Santiago del Estero is a strong lineup that has nearly 100 fewer caps than Argentina. They are looking to secure South Africa’s first Rugby Championship since 2019 and their first full championship since 2009.
It’s been so long since South Africa held the title that half of Saturday’s players have never won it. Among those twelve, six are World Cup champions, including prop Ox Nche.
“Winning the championship would give more recognition to what the squad has built over the last few years,” Nche says.
