'Pinch of salt': Mike Blair responds to Rassie Erasmus' team-naming tactics

Scottish-born All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair has given his verdict on Rassie Erasmus’ team-naming tactics, which saw the starting Springboks front row change before the second Test in Cape Town.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, and Wilco Louw were replaced in the starting lineup just one hour prior to kickoff, due to the Springboks’ read on the quality of the pitch at DHL Stadium.

Erasmus, who explained the decision thoroughly post-match, said the plan was to decide which front row would start after walking on the pitch when arriving at the stadium.

They found the weather forecast had improved, and the heavier trio of Nche, Marx, and Louw were better suited to the damper ground in the second half.

Addressing the media in Cape Town before travelling to Johannesburg in the coming days, Blair said you can’t, or shouldn’t, read too much into Erasmus’ pre-match team naming tactics.

“I mean, you take notice of it, but you take it with a pinch of salt as well,” Blair told reporters.

“You know, listening to what he said after the second Test about how he changed the team around depending on the weather, it shows that they’ve got the capability of doing that.

“So, you know, it gives us a little bit of an idea potentially of what they might be thinking.”

Although they have a fair idea of the 23 players running out against them on the weekend, Blair explained that they won’t spend too much time stressing about individual players.

“But we’re also not going to spend huge amounts of time planning for a certain individual in a certain position when we’re pretty aware that can change right up until kickoff.”

“No [it hasn’t impacted the All Blacks], but because, you know, historically we know that the team, although it’s announced on a Monday or a Tuesday, we know that it’s changed in the past and it’s regularly changed.

“So, as I said, there’s an awareness, but we don’t prepare for an individual being in a certain position, and we focus a lot on what our game is.

“We understand the South African DNA in terms of their game, in terms of how they defend as well, and a lot of the individuals coming to that will fit within that system. So we prepare for, I guess, the team’s ethos, as opposed to the individuals.”

Despite scoring one less five-pointer and losing the contest, Blair believes his side made more strides with ball in hand after the first Test at Ellis Park.

“Yeah, I think we had big improvements from Test one to Test two. Having the ability to balance our game is important in that space as well.

“But you know, we still want to play with tempo. We want to move around their pack. But there are different ways to fatigue the opposition as well, which we’ve looked at.”