Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus likened the selection of the 39-year old Deon Fourie for Saturday’s bench in the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry test in Cape Town as akin to “pushing the emergency button”, underlining how seriously the team are taking the game at the moment.
Fourie, who wasn’t part of the original squad for the tour, and whose international career was seen as being in the past, put in a stunning performance for the Stormers against the All Blacks in the opening tour game, which seems to have tipped the selection scales in his favour.
The sense of frustration after the Boks couldn’t turn physical domination into points last weekend and lost the game by the biggest margin in the Erasmus era is palpable in the Bok camp at the moment.
And while Erasmus has selected a squad with a lot more experience - one which will be the most experienced Bok team ever if captain Siya Kolisi is declared fit - he has also gone back to a group of players who have always put their hands up when the Boks have been in a hole.
Those players - many of them who are on the wrong side of 30 - may be a gamble in itself, especially as the experiment to move to a younger squad was transitioning all too well until last Saturday.
EXPERIENCE OVER YOUTH
At the moment the average age of the squad is around 32 - with the caveat whether the 23 year old Paul de Villiers or the 35-year old Siya Kolisi plays in the second test, but it is clear that the rotation strategy has been temporarily shelved in order to save the test series.
The Boks know all too well what a second loss will mean to them - and it will deny them the chance of winning the series - which would be a massive blow, especially on home soil.
So Erasmus has “pushed the emergency button” in a way and returned to the players he knows can - and have in the past - carried him through the dark moments.
The return of Lood de Jager, who provided a critical link at times for the side, is encouraging, although there is a question mark on his fitness, which the Boks have been working on for some time now.
Thomas du Toit is a regular and one of the stars of the Premiership and it was a surprise when he missed out on the 23-man squad in Johannesburg last weekend.
But it does also highlight that no less than 11 of the starting 15 - excluding Kolisi - are either 30 or older, and while the last 18 months have been about building depth, the Boks are calling on their most experienced players to get them through, even if that means bringing back a 39-year old whose international career seemed forgotten and finished.
EMERGENCY LIST
Erasmus admitted that in Tuesday’s presser, reminding those listening that there are a group of players that the Boks can turn to outside the squad if they feel the need, or need what someone like Fourie has to offer.
But he also worded it carefully - and the reminder of what a body blow the first test loss was for him was apparent.
“When I'm answering that, please don't think I think we have all the solutions now, sitting here. I don't want to sound like that, and I don't want our supporters — I know how our supporters feel, I know how we feel, I know how our media feel — but it's not a good position to be in. I can spin it as I want to.
“We’ve now got our backs against the wall. The one thing I can say is we've been in this position many times — we've been together for 9, 10 years, and most of the squad has lost first pool games (of a World Cup) before, lost the first game of a Lions series before. That doesn't make it easier, but it helps us know we've been there before, and we can fight our way out of it.
“But I'm 100 per cent sure Dave and his guys will say 'we're going to stop you' — we're very determined to try and get it right, because it's Cape Town, and it's probably going to be wet.”
POLLARD THE RIGHT GUY
Erasmus underlined why Pollard was the right guy in Cape Town as well, and as he is the Boks’ banker, the player who has delivered so many times for them before, it isn’t surprising he will take the mantle on his shoulders to guide them home.
“I think we played stupid, and a lot of the messages came from me — on top of the fact that three points is two less than five. We were 16-13 under the posts, third scrum — not sure the ref would reward us, and we made a mistake, we needed to kick it over.
“And now with Cheslin out— I think it's going to be a wettish week. We're only flying up on Wednesday, and as I see the weather conditions, there's a chance of rain — Handre's always been the guy who does it for us, he grew up there, it ist his hometown.
"The same with Manie (Libbok), although I feel bad for Manie, but we know Manie's still going to play in the next two matches after this one. So yeah, we think Handre is a good fit for that.”
Erasmus is correct in saying the Boks’ backs are against the wall, and with that in mind, they have turned to their tried and trusted, to get them through a dip one more time.
But if it backfires, there may be so many more questions than answers next week.