Boks change tack as they keep Kiwis guessing

Is their intention to keep the All Blacks guessing until the last possible moment or are the Springboks changing tack because they themselves for once aren’t quite decided over some selections they are looking to make this week?

That was the question that hovered in the air as it was announced on Monday that instead of naming the match day squad for Saturday’s fourth round Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash with the Kiwis at the DHL Stadium, Rassie Erasmus will be making his team announcement on Thursday.
 

The All Blacks are scheduled to name their team and reserves for the game at 7.10am on Thursday at their team hotel in Newlands, while the Boks will now make their announcement just under two hours later, at 9am at their hotel on the Cape Town foreshore.

It is the first time in a long while that the Boks are going the way of most other international teams by making the announcement on Thursday. But then, given how head coach Erasmus had to change tack last week over the availability of Eben Etzebeth, there may be factors apart from just wanting to keep New Zealand coach Scott Robertson and his management group in the dark about what they will be up against on Saturday.

Such as the condition of Siya Kolisi, who sustained what was described as a suspected cheek fracture at the time due to what looked a dangerous challenge from former All Black captain and ace openside flanker Sam Cane in the first game between the two traditional global powerhouses at Emirates Airlines Park at the weekend.

World Rugby has announced that there will be no further action against Cane, who was sent off in last year’s Rugby World Cup final for what looked like a very similar tackle. Bok scrum coach Daan Human, who did the media duties on Monday, said it was irrelevant to him and the rest of the South African team what if any action was taken against Cane for the incident that may well cost Kolisi his part in the return game.

“I don’t think we will go into the refereeing decisions and the World Rugby decision on that, it is part of the past. We are looking forward to Saturday, what happened a few days ago with regard to that is not relevant,” said Human.

Whether he was feeding a narrative or not that maybe the Bok head coach wants to have put out to keep the All Blacks guessing only Human and Erasmus will know, but Human did give an indication at the media conference that the Kolisi injury may not be as serious as first thought and that he could be available to lead his team in Cape Town.

 “So far we are assessing the possibility of him (Kolisi) being available. We will see how he goes through the week, but hopefully He will be playing,” said Human.

“It as a proper knock. I can’t go into what the TMOs and the refs saw, but hopefully Siya can recover soon.”

Asked why the team announcement has been delayed as a departure from the usual Bok attitude of “this is what we have, it is up to the other team to beat us”, Human was non-committal.

“There is no particular reason for the team announcement to be delayed, you will have wait for Rassie to answer that one.”

Now that Erasmus is changing up his selections so much in his quest to build up depth and refresh the team at the start of the build-up to the next World Cup in 2027, it does make sense for the Boks not to rush the announcements. It does make a big difference to an opposing team if they get telegraphed the intention of the Boks to make a surprise selection earlier in the week and only learning of the composition of the Bok team on Thursday will give the visitors less time to prepare.

Wing Kurt-Lee Arendse was the other Bok to leave the field in the Johannesburg game, won 31-27 by South Africa, and as it was a concussion it would appear highly unlikely he will be available to line up again against last year’s beaten World Cup finalists. However, Human gave an assurance that there are no other injuries that the Boks are dealing with.

So apart from the condition of Kolisi, it is Erasmus’ selection decisions that will be up in the air until Thursday. He did hint after the Johannesburg game that he would again be making changes, meaning making some experimental selections, for the return clash.