Rassie Erasmus is excited to see how Ruan Nortje and Aphelele Fassi fare against “one of the best teams in the world” when the Springboks and All Blacks clash on Saturday.
Jasper Wiese makes his first appearance of the season in a starting XV featuring a new lock combination as Erasmus rang the changes for the Rugby Championship Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Erasmus made nine changes to the team that beat the Wallabies in Perth, recalling Wiese from suspension and pairing Pieter-Steph du Toit and Nortje in the second row as a result of injuries to six other locks for the first of two Tests against New Zealand in the Republic.
Locks Eben Etzebeth (back) and Salmaan Moerat (concussion) miss out while fullback Fassi retains the No 15 jersey.
“It’s not ideal that we have so many injuries at lock, but we are pleased with the way Ruan stood his man in our last match and we are confident that he’ll combine well with Pieter-Steph at lock,” said Erasmus.
“This will serve as a fantastic opportunity for him to prove what he can do against one of the best teams in the world.
“It’s also good to have a player of Jasper’s calibre back and we know that he’ll bring a lot of energy on attack and defence after biding his time to return to the field, and we are looking forward to seeing his physicality combined with the rest of the back row.
TEAM: Boks back Fassi to fly against All Blacks
“We also have a settled backline, and Aphelele made a strong statement against the Wallabies in Perth, so we are excited to see what they have to offer against a heavily attack-orientated All Black backline.
“We’ve seen what most of these players can do under pressure in Australia, and we’re confident that they’ll want to build on that against the All Blacks.”
The Bok coach was confident that the lock injury situation would ease in the next week: “Eben may have been ready to play this week if we really needed him, but we feel we will benefit more from selecting a player that is 100% fit, and Salmaan should also be back in selection frame next week after following the return to play protocols.
“We’re happy that things will ease significantly for us in that department going into the second Test.”
Erasmus said he expected an immensely physical approach from the Kiwis, who have an impressive winning record of three wins in their last four outings at Ellis Park, with winning margins of seven points or more on each occasion.
“We’ve no doubt they’ll come out guns blazing,” he said. “They’ll want to build winning momentum after bouncing back against Argentina following their disappointing opening game, and the rivalry between the Boks and All Blacks will motivate them even more.
“There is also no doubt they’ll still be hurting from the Rugby World Cup final, and in addition to that they know how important a win will be to square things up and open up the Castle Lager Rugby Championship log.
“They’re a quality team with several players who have an X factor and they constantly pose a threat to our defence, so we have to start well and be on the top of our game in all departments to try to build on what we have done in the competition so far.
“We’re under no illusions that this will be a completely different challenge to that which Australia posed, and that the next two Tests will require a proper step-up from us, but we are excited to see if we can take our game to the next level and give ourselves the best possible chance to stake a claim for the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019.
“So, we’ll give our best and hopefully that will place us on the correct side of the scoreboard.”
Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
