While a lot of focus has been on the players returning from injury this weekend and their task to ensure they show Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus that they are fit and ready to be deployed in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, the Bok coach has moved to assure those on the fringes as well that they are very much in his plans.
Saturday’s test against Argentina provides the Boks with an opportunity to get game time against a tough opponent for players who have been out with injury - most notably the likes of lock Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, halfback Morne van den Berg and utility backs Ethan Hooker and Canan Moodie.
But it is also a case that a number of others on the fringe will want to stake a claim for places in the final test squad against Los Pumas by getting the Boks the momentum they need to go into the series with a win.
HANEKOM AND WIESE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
Some of those - the Bulls duo of Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw in the loose trio, Cobus Wiese on the bench at lock and a few others, have more than enough motivation to do well in Buenos Aires and there is always the temptation to try too hard in the situation to prove a point to the coach.
But the environment that Erasmus has created has assured the Boks involved that they are part of his plans and they will play a part in the Greatest Rivalry tour when it gets going.
Part of that is the expected attrition rate with four back to back physical tests between the rugby world’s two leading nations that makes a big squad and rotation necessary to get through the four weeks of test matches.
That’s why it wasn’t surprising to hear Erasmus reassure his players and tell the public at the same time that the players certainly don’t have much to prove individually, other than squad goals for the game that they need to achieve.
And as long as they do that, and failing injury, their places for the RGR tour are assured.
PLAYERS ARE IN RGR PLANS
“I hope you don't take it the wrong way that I keep answering with the same trend — it's a very valid question. I'm being honest, it's not a cliché: if you're an Argentinian coach or player and you hear us talking about the All Blacks series in this press conference, it would be a slap in the face,” Erasmus said in deflecting questions about the All Blacks.
“So I want to stress again — we want to beat Argentina in Argentina, which is really tough. They've given us our biggest hiding ever since we've coached this team. So that's not us being stubborn — it's genuine.
“But to answer your question for those fringe guys — we all believe they'll be in the Greatest Rivalry squad. They might not play in the first test, or might play fifty minutes of it, depending on how Lood (de Jager) and Franco (Mostert) come through injury and form.
“New Zealand's tour is seven weeks long with four test matches plus midweek matches — that's as long as a World Cup pool stage. I believe it'll be tougher than a World Cup pool, because after pool matches teams always struggle to find enough fit locks, loose forwards and flyhalves.
SAME GOAL FOR STALWARTS
“So while those fringe guys don't need to play themselves into the squad, we'll definitely use them somewhere during the Greatest Rivalry. But first we have to get past this tough hurdle in front of us.”
Erasmus added that the stalwarts returning had the same goal as everyone else - win the test match first and achieve the Springbok goals, and then prove their fitness at the same time. If both those boxes get ticked, then the squad will go into the series with confidence.
“If you take the winning out, and you take out guys getting game time, then it's really about the tactics and the plan we're taking into the game. We obviously want to be on the winning side of the scoreboard, but I don't think the margin of winning, if we do win, is the important thing,” Erasmus explained.
“A lot of these guys are coming back from injury, and some aren't fully settled in the team yet — guys with nine caps, two caps, and so on. So I guess what happens on Saturday won't be perfect, but if we get better, keep growing our game plan and get more in sync, hopefully the score goes our way.
“Apart from returning players from injury and getting match fitness into some guys, then trying to win, the only other thing I'd wish for is that we grow our game and get a little bit better in every department.”
SIYA FITNESS NOT A CONCERN
The one player Erasmus said he didn’t have any concerns about fitness or form was captain Siya Kolisi, who starts at six.
“Siya is the one guy we don't have to worry about coming back from injury — prior to 2023 and prior to 2019 he had long-term knee injuries, so it was always a race against time. But given his age and his experience with injuries — a guy like Sacha is probably newer to a big injury like that, and you learn how to deal with it and rehab better each time.
“Siya does his rehab really on time, he's very diligent, and from our experience we've never been unsure when we've selected him — he's always delivered. To answer your question on timing — we've got Marco (van Staden) on the bench who can cover him, same as with Eben and Lood — as long as he's productive and delivering on the field we want to get him maximum minutes, but that will probably be a half, or a little more than a half.”
The Argentina test kicks off at 9pm SA time and is live on SuperSport.