Rassie Erasmus explains Springbok star's off day as experiments binned off

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus says the time for chopping and changing is over following South Africa’s 55-10 pummelling of Georgia in Mbombela.

After a July series best described as part science lab, part demolition job, the Boks boss confirmed a shift toward consistency ahead of the Rugby Championship.

The Boks crossed for nine tries against the Lelos, with Erasmus admitting the experimental nature of the four-match run — which included a non-cap outing against the Barbarians — had blunted their rhythm.

Rassie Erasmus assesses the Bok Test vs Georgia and the way forward

Rassie Erasmus assesses the Bok Test vs Georgia and the way forward

“We’re fairly happy if you look over the four games,” said Erasmus. “We scored close to 50 points in each match and apart from the first Italy test defended pretty well.

“Georgia were physical and disruptive but that’s not an excuse for us making so many errors, but I guess we must understand that if we chop and change teams like we have as we’re building squad depth, you’ll lose rhythm.

“We found that again in the last 20 minutes and we can be fairly happy with the scoreline although one can always do better.”

The coaching staff made 10, 15 and then 16 changes to the squad in consecutive weeks. Plenty of players have been blooded but hasn’t left much room for cohesion.

A 36-man squad will be named on Tuesday for the two-Test series against Australia, and while there’s still room for the odd wild card, the focus is now squarely on sharpening his best side.

“Within that squad there’ll be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play,” Erasmus said.

“The nice thing is that we’ve got a group of 48 players or so that we’ve used this year and there’s quite a couple that we’d also like to give opportunities to — like Jaden [Hendrikse], Jordan [Hendrikse], Quan Horn, Renzo [du Plessis].

“But this was a series where we wanted to experiment a little bit so getting the scorelines we did is pretty satisfying. But the Rugby Championship is definitely a step up.”

It was a second straight 45+ point win for the Boks, following their 45-0 shutout of Italy last weekend, and they ended the July series with 22 tries scored and just four conceded.

One outlier on the scoreboard was flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s wayward goal-kicking, with the young pivot converting just one of his five attempts. Erasmus, however, revealed there was context behind the off-day.

“He suffered a hip pointer injury in the warm-up,” said Erasmus. “We weren’t quite sure if we should push him through the game, but he wanted to play — but that’s not an excuse for the way he kicked at poles.

“He ran it out and we like guys that try things and not just play safe, and he’s certainly not one of the guys that made the most errors.”