LONG READ Rassie Erasmus and his 'B' teams continue to divide and conquer

Consider how many times Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have had to defend fielding perceived weakened Springbok teams. Foreign critics accuse the South Africans of disrespect, while local pundits and former players bemoan the cheapening of the jersey. As is typically the case with Erasmus, there is method to the madness.

The Bok coaches rotated the squad regularly between 2018 and 2023 and Erasmus confirmed the practice will continue in the lead-up to the 2027 World Cup, as he develops a team with the potential to win a third-successive title.

When Erasmus made this statement in February, it seemed like he was playing down a more privately held ambition to transform the Boks into an all-conquering force. His men have won two World Cups, a Rugby Championship and a Lions series, but never dominated the game to the extent of the great All Blacks side of the 2010s.

The logistical challenges facing South African rugby, and the impact of the unforgiving 12-month schedule, should not be underestimated. But the structures implemented by Erasmus over the past decade – as SA Rugby high performance manager, then director of rugby and head coach– are bearing fruit, and there are three or four world-class players in almost every position.

How else could the Boks travel to Australia without 12 World Cup winners and thrash the Wallabies 33-7 in Brisbane? How else could Erasmus make 11 changes ahead of the next match in Perth, and still come away with a resounding 30-12 victory?

Since 2018, the Bok coaches have fielded what could be considered a weakened team on 20 occasions, winning 17 and losing three.

The Boks are being touted as favourites to win their two-match showdown with visiting New Zealand and end their long Freedom Cup drought – and rightly so.

It’s worth stepping back, though, to consider how Erasmus has developed the squad to get to this point.

Since 2018, the Bok coaches have fielded what could be considered a weakened team on 20 occasions, winning 17 and losing three.

When you subtract World Cup fixtures against Tier Two sides from the equation, as well as the recent 64-21 win over Portugal, the Boks’ win record with a weakened team still reads an impressive 12 from 15 (80%).

Erasmus set the tone right out of the gate in 2018. Every former Bok coach will say you have to win your first Test, as the South African public and media tend to judge your aptitude for the position on that initial result.

Erasmus picked an experimental side for his opening game against Wales in far-flung Washington DC, while his first-choice squad remained in South Africa to prepare for a three-Test series against England. Seven players made their debuts in the starting XV, and only two – Pieter-Steph du Toit and Wilco Louw – went on to face England in the first Test.

Wales won 22-20, and there was a feeling in South Africa Erasmus had erred in his calculations and devalued the Bok jersey.

The criticism dried up, of course, after the well-rested first-choice side – which also featured a few debutants in RG Snyman, Aphiwe Dyantyi and Sbu Nkosi, as well as a new captain in Siya Kolisi – took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series against England.

Expectations were tempered ahead of the 2019 season, and again, Erasmus was widely criticised when he decided to split his squad for the Rugby Championship.

After the series-clinching win in Bloemfontein, Erasmus made eight changes to his starting XV, and this time the Boks went down 25-10.

In later years, Erasmus and Nienaber would speak about the balance of their ‘B’ teams, and list this match as an example of how they had got the mix wrong.

Expectations were tempered ahead of the 2019 season, and again, Erasmus was widely criticised when he decided to split his squad for the Rugby Championship. A predominantly second-string group prepared for the opening fixture against the Wallabies in Johannesburg, while an advance party travelled to New Zealand to acclimatise for the subsequent game against the All Blacks.

Erasmus explained the logistics of playing in Johannesburg on week and Wellington the next demanded an inventive approach. His troops duly romped to a 35-17 bonus-point victory over Australia. The first-choice side drew with the All Blacks the following week, and the Boks went on to win their first southern hemisphere title in a decade.

Three years after their World Cup glory, there was more outcry after 14 changes were made ahead of the second Test against Wales in July 2022. Eben Etzebeth and Du Toit were retained, while Handré Pollard was fast-tracked into the team after returning from Europe. Kurt-Lee Arendse and Evan Roos made their debuts in a starting XV devoid of established combinations, and the Boks went down 13-12.

Afterwards, Nienaber defended the decision to give players opportunities with an eye to the future, while conceding the team was unbalanced.

Later that season, more than half of the first-choice players missed the second Test against the Wallabies in Sydney. This time, the Boks struck the right balance to win 24-8 and end a nine-year losing streak in Australia.

Injuries to key players continued to force Nienaber’s hand, and a largely second-string combination were unable to claim the Rugby Championship crown despite back-to-back wins over Argentina.

Erasmus favoured the bulk of his World Cup-winning squad for the two-match epic against Ireland. The Boks didn’t have everything their own way,

Erasmus and Nienaber dusted off the 2019 playbook ahead of the 2023 season. The squad was split for the opening two fixtures, although the heavy hitters went down 35-20 in New Zealand. The coaches continued to experiment, second- and third-stringers impressing in the 52-16 warm-up victory in Wales, before the big guns blew the All Blacks away at Twickenham. It was a familiar story two months ago, when a hugely rotated Bok squad hammered Wales 41-3 in their out-of-window match.

Erasmus favoured the bulk of his World Cup-winning squad for the two-match epic against Ireland. The Boks didn’t have everything their own way, and most expected Erasmus to alter his plans in for to the tour of Australia with the aim of making a statement. As it turned out, South Africa shellacked the Wallabies with two much-changed teams.

As former Bok flanker Schalk Burger noted before the second Test, many of these players could be viewed – with respect – as fifth-choice on the South African depth chart.

Morné van der Berg, for example, was the third scrum-half on tour behind Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams, while World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Jaden Hendrikse weren’t considered for injury and match fitness reasons.

The bench was loaded with veterans who boasted a combined 419 caps. Erasmus gave the younger, less experienced players an opportunity to prove themselves in the first half, before sending on the senior statesmen to finish the job.

Categorising players as first- or second-choice became a lot tougher after Erasmus introduced the Bomb Squad concept in 2019 and challenged the men on the bench to treat the responsibility of finishing a game with the respect it deserves.

There is now fierce debate over who should start the all-important matches against the All Blacks. That debate itself is a tribute to what Erasmus has achieved.

The 37-man squad for the Freedom Cup series was named earlier this week, and apart from the inclusion of Montpellier utility forward Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg – who last featured for the Boks in 2021 – there are no surprises.

Six World Cup winners are still unavailable due to serious injuries (Damian Willemse, Faf de Klerk, Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn, Deon Fourie and Lood de Jager) while another in Trevor Nyakane is on standby.

Wilco Louw, who won a Premiership title with Harlequins and has transformed the Bulls scrum since returning to South Africa, hasn’t made the cut.

Categorising players as first- or second-choice became a lot tougher after Erasmus introduced the Bomb Squad concept in 2019 and challenged the men on the bench to treat the responsibility of finishing a game with the respect it deserves.

Before the 2019 World Cup final, England coach Eddie Jones observed the Bok bench was better than the starting XV in some respects. While it’s a subjective take, it does highlight the quality of both sets of players.

Can you say Bongi Mbonambi is first-choice hooker and Malcolm Marx second? What about Steven Kitshoff and Ox Nche at loosehead, or Frans Malherbe and Vincent Koch at tighthead? We could mention Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert in the second row, Siya Kolisi and Kwagga Smith at open-side, De Klerk and Reinach at scrum-half, Jesse Kriel and Lukhanyo Am at outside centre, wingers Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse versus Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi, and then Willemse and Willie le Roux at full-back.

Erasmus has taken his development plan to the next level in 2024, and more players than ever are jousting for opportunities in just about every position.

The coach will continue to talk about building for the 2027 World Cup, the team’s biggest goal. If they realise the ambition of winning three titles in a row, nobody will remember they lost a few matches along the way.

We may never reach the point where the Boks rotate for a marquee clash against the All Blacks, Ireland, England or another high-ranking opponent.

But with the wealth of talent at their disposal, they may continue to divide their resources without losing much potency, and – whisper it – improve their overall win record between global tournaments.