Erasmus explains Feinberg-Mngomezulu decision in Bok 10 merry-go-round

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said Handre Pollard has delivered for the Springboks “under extreme pressure” when explaining why he has opted to start the double World Cup-winning fly-half in the No.10 jersey for the second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.

Having lost the first Test 33-16 at Ellis Park, the Springboks head into this match knowing a defeat at the DHL Stadium would render it impossible to win the four-match Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

Therefore, Erasmus has turned to a player who has made a name for himself by delivering on the biggest stages, the 32-year-old Pollard, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, eight years his junior, on the bench this week after starting in Johannesburg. Manie Libbok, meanwhile, is out of the squad entirely after operating as a replacement at Ellis Park.

Pollard will form a fresh half-back partnership with Cobus Reinach, who will start this week following an injury to Grant Williams. The 36-year-old will be out to redeem himself after his yellow card for an intentional knock-on reduced the Boks to 13 men for the final quarter against Dave Rennie’s side.

Such changes are familiar territory for the Springboks, who rotated their fly-halves throughout the Nations Championship in July, with Libbok, Pollard and the 20-year-old Vusi Moyo all handed starts, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu starting against Argentina earlier this month after recovering from an ankle injury.

Fixture

Internationals

South Africa

08:10

29 Aug 26

New Zealand

All Stats and Data

In what was just his second match back after injury, the 24-year-old did not look at his imperious best in Jo’burg, and his proclivity to cough up possession proved costly. Erasmus said that the decision to move him to the bench, however, was due to the stylistic difference both he, and substitute scrum-half Morne van den Berg, will provide in the closing quarters.

Erasmus said: “Handre has delivered for us under extreme pressure, and we feel that what he and Cobus have the potential to bring at the beginning of the game, and then have Morne and Sacha come on later with their different styles of play, will be good for us this weekend.”