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Defeat has forced Boks to sharpen their focus OPINION: Rassie Erasmus’ recent selections suggest that plans to rest and manage the Springboks’ best players over the course of the Greatest Rivalry Test series have been shelved. Following the series opener in Johannesburg, Erasmus has brought eight new players into the match 23 ahead of the second clash in Cape Town this Saturday. Some might view this as a knee-jerk reaction to the 16-33 loss at Ellis Park, while others may suggest that the team for Cape Town was picked well before the series commenced. The truth, as is often the case, is probably somewhere in-between. Erasmus would have come into this series with a plan geared towards managing a 44-man squad over the course of four consecutive “World Cup finals”. But now that the Boks have lost the first match and are one result away from disaster, those plans will have to change. Injuries have also forced Erasmus’ hand, with one of the Boks’ leading players in Cheslin Kolbe missing out on the clash in Cape Town due to a leg issue. Rewind to last week, when Erasmus announced his match 23 for the series opener at Ellis Park. At the time, the omissions of Siya Kolisi, Handré Pollard, Thomas du Toit and Lood de Jager were questioned. Erasmus explained that the nature of a four-match series against a team like the All Blacks factored into his selections, and suggested that all four veterans would be in the mix for the second Test, fitness permitting. As the most recent selections confirm, Kolisi – pending a further fitness test – Pollard, Du Toit and De Jager will lend their considerable experience to the cause in Cape Town on Saturday. Pollard’s inclusion should offset the loss of Kolbe – who nailed all four attempts at goal last week – and provide the Boks with a better game manager at No.10. While it may have been the plan to start Pollard in Cape Town all along, confirmation of his selection – along with another veteran in scrumhalf Cobus Reinach – feels especially significant in the wake of South Africa’s wasteful performance at Ellis Park. It will be do-or-die for the Boks this Saturday, and they will need their most experienced halfbacks to translate set-piece and territorial dominance into points and, ultimately, a series-saving result. The Boks got a lot right in terms of their set-piece and kicking strategy last week, and were undone by their inability to pull the trigger in the All Blacks 22. The Bomb Squad did not have the desired impact, and this week, more experienced players such as De Jager, Du Toit and the 39-year-old Deon Fourie will have a key role to play in the second stanza. The Boks will have a plan for the final quarter in Cape Town, and Erasmus will hope that the inclusion of these veterans translates into a more composed and accurate performance than was the case in Johannesburg last Saturday. The Boks’ plans to field André Esterhuizen on the flank at Ellis Park were scuppered after Kurt-Lee Arendse was forced from the field with a head injury. Esterhuizen has been listed at No.20 again this week, and barring further disruptive injuries on match day, the Boks should have the chance to unleash a six-two bench with the hybrid playing his part. There’s no shortage of dynamism on the bench, when you consider that the explosive Morné van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be unleashed at some stage in the second half. Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ability to cover flyhalf, centre and fullback has earned him a bench spot ahead of Manie Libbok – and if Pollard breaks down, the Boks may need another established goal-kicker to convert opportunities into points. The relentless Cameron Hanekom should make an impact around the gainline and breakdown, and it will be interesting to see whether Fourie plays hooker or flank in the closing stages, and how that influences the make-up and approach of the pack. The story continues below… To reiterate, Erasmus has brought eight new players into the match 23 – and while that may seem like a lot, one wonders if a few more changes would have been made if the Boks had won the series opener. In that event, Erasmus could have cotton-wooled a few key players with a view to using them in the third and fourth Tests. But in the wake of the defeat, he has to select his best available 23 for Cape Town to ensure that the Boks head to FNB Stadium and Baltimore thereafter with a chance of winning the series. Malcolm Marx played 80 minutes at Ellis Park, and may have to go the distance again in Cape Town, if Fourie is used as a flanker from the bench. Others like De Allende and Etzebeth have been managed carefully in recent seasons, and may have benefitted from a rest this week after putting in a big shift at Ellis Park. But with the series on the line, resting the most important and experienced players is no longer an option. One wonders if Ox Nché and Wilco Louw would have been retained as starting options for Cape Town if the Boks had won in Johannesburg. To be clear, Nché and Louw were at the heart of a game-shaping scrummaging performance at Ellis Park, and it’s a shame that their efforts weren’t complemented by a more accurate showing by others in general play. Nché, Marx and Louw will need to go again this Saturday, and while it’s the right call by Erasmus, one wonders when or if these players will get a rest later in the series. For now, the Boks will focus on the more immediate priority of levelling the series. Come next week, however, Erasmus and Dave Rennie could face some difficult selection decisions if a title win is still up for grabs. Register your interest to receive priority updates on RWC27 ticket releases. Don't miss out, stay in the loop!