Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has shown Wales respect with his team selection for Saturday’s Nations Championship clash in Durban but his decision to mix experience with youth will be driven by more than just the need to front opponents that have troubled him in the past.
When Erasmus spoke at the team announcement press conference he made it clear that he had not forgotten past clashes with Wales. It was against that team that he started his international career. Although the clash with Wales in Washington that preceded the start of the England series in Johannesburg a week later was really an exhibition game, defeat was not a good place for the Erasmus era to start.
Erasmus’ team lost both of the first two games they played against Wales under his watch, with the 22-20 defeat in Washington being followed by a 20-11 loss in Cardiff on the end of year tour. Then came the ice-breaking win in the most important clash with Wales of the Erasmus era, the 2019 Rugby World Cup semifinal in Yokohama when the Boks had to rely on a late clutch kick from Handre Pollard to get them into the final against England.
But two games later the Boks were back on the losing side when they lost the second test of the three match 2022 series in Bloemfontein, a game where the Boks were set up in a similar way to how they were against Scotland in Pretoria last weekend - they fielded effectively a second string team.
The two nations have been travelling in opposite directions since then, with the Boks gathering momentum and becoming the dominant force in world rugby while Wales had their tier one status seriously threatened by a period after the 2023 World Cup where they went nearly two years without a win, and then it was only against Japan.
The Boks have tended to go under-strength against Wales during the Welsh decline, but there’s one thing that has remained constant with South African players when it comes to Welsh opponents, be it when they play for the national team or the URC - Wales is the one nation that doesn’t step back from the Boks when it comes to the physical confrontation.
RASSIE WAS HURT BY WALES AS A PLAYER TOO
And while the Welsh have struggled in recent times against the Boks, and went down 73-0 in Cardiff last November, Erasmus will know from his time as a player that a momentous reverse in fortunes for Wales against South Africa will not be a first. Erasmus was part of the team that won 96-13 at Loftus in June 1998, with just a knock-on with the line at his mercy from reserve hooker Naka Drotske preventing the Boks from posting a three figure score. He was also part of the team that scraped home at Wembley just a few months later, and then was part of the side that lost 29-19 at the opening of what was then the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in June of the following year.
That was the first ever defeat for the Boks against Wales and it came just a year after the nearly 100 pointer, so Erasmus has been burnt by Wales before - both as a player and a coach. He’s also not wrong when he says Wales are improving under their new coach Steve Tandy.
“Wales were only denied victory over Scotland in the Six Nations by a bit of Finn Russell magic near the end and were also competitive against Ireland and beat Italy in their final game,” said Erasmus.
“They also beat Fiji in the Nations Championship before going down against Argentina in a competitive game last weekend. So they are on the rise and we know they will come out with a point to prove this weekend.”
Indeed, that is something you can bet on after that whitewash suffered by Wales last November. The Welsh have been through a nadir point in their history but they remain proud, and while only Cardiff made the URC knock-outs this past season, their teams were competitive against South African opposition in quite a few games in the competition.
EXPERIENCED HANDS WILL CALM THE DEBUTANTS
However, while the inclusion of experienced players like Pieter-Steph du Toit, No 8 Jasper Wiese, the two centres Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel, the scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and hooker Malcolm Marx will safeguard against the Boks slipping like the 1999 team did, it is probably the presence of so many newcomers that drove the selection.
Erasmus took on the approach of a swimming teacher who throws his pupils into the deep end against Scotland last week, but it was not a day where debutants were as prominent in the starting team as they are on Saturday. Carlu Sadie, Ruben van Heerden, Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams will all be making their debuts at a Hollywoodbets Kings Park venue they should be very familiar with (the latter two are current Sharks while the former have played for the Sharks).
While Sadie and Van Heerden have plenty of experience at top club level behind them, Moyo and Williams are new to first class rugby full stop after starring for the Junior Springboks in their Junior World Championship triumph last year.
Moyo will benefit from having the very experienced De Allende and Reinach on either side of him, while Kriel can keep Williams calm out wide.
SOME PLAYERS NEED GAME TIME
That’s one aspect of the selection. Another is keeping players in the playing groove as the Greatest Rivalry Series hastens its way towards us up the track. Fullback Aphelele Fassi in particular looks like he needs a few games to play himself back into the excellent form that made him the first choice in that position before his injury last year.
It takes a while sometimes after a layoff for a fullback to get his timing right and that may be the reason why he hasn’t quite hit his straps in the games against first the Barbarians and then Scotland this past weekend. Damian Willemse has established himself as the first choice No 15, there can’t be any debate about that, but Erasmus will breathe easier if he knows that Fassi is back to his best.
Fassi, who will play in Japan next season, will be using this game on his home ground to regain his form and erase any question marks over his right to be considered a squad certainty.