The Fassi-Sacha subplot could be the most important against the All Blacks this weekend

The Springboks' success on Saturday against the All Blacks will be as much based on the performance of two young upstarts as it will be their powerful set pieces and physicality.

In handing the keys to the team to two young players for the All Blacks test, coach Rassie Erasmus has taken a bold step forward for the future, and at the same time unlocked a way of playing that may turn out to be exceptionally forward thinking.

It was long expected that Erasmus will revert to the so-called main guns when it comes to facing the All Blacks. And with the injury crisis up front, that view looked to have been cemented going into the game as well.

But going into a game against the arch-rivals without Willie le Roux or Handre Pollard in the starting line-up was unthinkable a year ago.

NEW GAME PLAN IN THE OFFING

This weekend though, the Boks have signalled the move to the new game plan, and preparing for the future won’t be stalled just because of a tough test match or two.

Erasmus has been clear that the young players coming through the ranks need to have 30 to 40 test matches under their belts ahead of the next World Cup and while he has managed both Fassi and Feinberg-Mngomezulu well, both are seen as the next generation that will take the Boks into the 2027 World Cup.

And while Pollard and Le Roux served each other as playmakers, the two youngsters offer a different challenge to the opposition - one (Aphelele Fassi) being more a strike runner while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the playmaker.

The opportunity for the Boks to be different on attack with Fassi complimenting the two wingers in Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse has not been lost on the team, and Erasmus has clearly backed both to go and show their worth at the highest level.

Erasmus dismissed suggestions he should have shielded Feinberg-Mngomezulu from the challenge for a bit longer.

“I think the only guy I remember that wasn’t shielded was maybe Gaffie du Toit,” Erasmus said.

'CARRIED OFF AND NEVER PLAYED AGAIN'

“I played a test match with him and he was thrown in there in Dunedin, against an All Black team that I didn’t want to look in the eyes even, as we walked down the tunnel – he was thrown in at 10, him and David von Hoesslin. He was basically carried off and never played for the Springboks again.

“Sacha was marked in the under-15, under-16 systems, and he played for SA Schools, was captain of the Junior Boks, played SA ‘A’ games, trained against the Springboks on last year’s end-of-year tour.

“Now he is playing in his seventh cap, and having built up to this game, and to now take it away from him at this highest level, it will be stupid. Let him make some mistakes and learn and get better.”

While Fassi has a cult following, especially among Sharks fans, the lanky fullback has sometimes struggled with his defence and dropped out of the Bok reckoning for a while because of this. But Erasmus sees this as his moment to shine, his moment to explode against one of the toughest teams to play against.

“We are all waiting for Aphelele to do it now. That was the word all of last week: ‘Do it now, it’s now you. You’ve got to show the people what you can do, and why you are here. They haven’t seen the things that you do’,” Erasmus said.

“But unfortunately with everything, there’s first the hard grafting involved in a game before you get to do the beautiful thing.

'IT'S APHELELE'S TIME TO SHINE'

“So him getting that high-ball technique right and not lifting that leg; combining with the wing, small defensive things; and now it’s his time to shine.”

Le Roux’s role, in the side, has been to take a step back and while Erasmus wants to get him to 100 caps - he is currently on 96 - the Bok coach said he had accepted he would be a mentor more than a frontline player for the foreseeable future.

“Willie is somebody who I’ve coached since my Stormers days. He’s at a time in his career where he accepts what his role is in the team.

“He helps the guys to understand how big the test match is, how we are going to handle this, how you are going to read that flyhalf and when do you have to cover what space. He and Aphelele are close.

“We want to get him to his 100th game. He’s at 96 now. I think he will play another two years. I don’t think he will make another World Cup. If he does, it will be like Stephan Donald. His role in the team now is to help youngsters and when he plays to help us win.”

As if there was not enough scrutiny on any Boks v All Blacks test, this weekend offers a tapestry of different sub-plots.

And the Aphelele-Sacha subplot may turn out to be the most important of them all.