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Rassie Erasmus on why he subbed Siya Kolisi two minutes into the second half
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Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has explained the decision to take captain Siya Kolisi off after just two minutes into the second half against the All Blacks.
The returning captain scored a try minutes before the half to help build a 24-14 buffer at the break, but was quickly substituted after the resumption of play.
Like a number of South Africa’s substitutions, they can be tactical or based on fatigue. In the case of Kolisi, a lack of minutes heading into the game meant the risk of fatigue was high.
“I know a lot of people said why did you take Siya off,” Erasmus explained post-match.
“Siya’s total minutes is now 50 minutes in eight weeks, so he was going to get tired. That’s why I took him off.
“Deon Fourie, he’s 39-years-old. He’s played 65 minutes against the All Blacks in six weeks, so he was going to get tired, and he was. You could see he missed the tackle when they scored the one try.
“And we got Ox, who prior to the previous game played eight minutes, and then last week he played 45 minutes. Now this game we wanted him, because he didn’t start, to get to 55 minutes.
“So putting those two guys on, but that’s not decided before, if the guys stay productive on the field, then they keep doing the job. We pull it back.
“And we do it the moment that they’re not productive, in our opinion, anymore.”
After Cheslin Kolbe saved a Feinberg-Mngomezulu cross-field kick going into touch, scramble defence on Leroy Carter forced a penalty just five metres out from the All Blacks line.
At that moment Erasmus decided to make front row changes, putting Malcolm Marx and Ox Nche into the game. Both were named to start but were sent to the reserves.
The Springboks didn’t get much reward from the scrum but a power set of forward carries saw Kolisi break the line and score.
The fast start from South Africa gave the home side flexibility to defend a lead and use their bench when they wanted to.
“The start was was great for us because normally New Zealand get a great start,” Erasmus said.
“So that was job done first, and then half-time, obviously, you know Siya’s going to last another five-six minutes, now we start talking subs and so on, and then I thought really the guys that came on brought energy there.
“You know, if they kept the ball another two phases. It might have been a draw. So some of our plans worked and some didn’t.”
