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Nick Mallett: The ‘incredibly important’ fact about the Springboks depth Springboks forward Pieter-Steph du Toit and an inset of ex-head coach Nick Mallett. Nick Mallett has explained why he is not nervous about who Rassie Erasmus selects to play for the Springboks for any Test match. The Boks face Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday evening in the final match before the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks. For the fixture, Erasmus has welcomed back several stalwarts with Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Morne van den Berg all returning from injuries that saw them miss the Nations Championship games in July. Andre Esterhuizen, Canan Moodie and Ethan Hooker also mark their returns from setbacks last month, with all the aforementioned players making timely comebacks before the highly anticipated series versus New Zealand. While on paper, this is a strong Springboks team to face Los Pumas, it continues the trend of Erasmus chopping and changing his team from Test match to Test match. Despite doing so, the team has repeatedly been able to pick up victories even when taking on full-strength opposition. Springboks players have a “complete understanding” of their roles Former Springboks boss Mallett believes that Erasmus is able to do this having built up the knowledge of the squad, with the players having clear clarity on their role and responsibilities of their position. “The key to all this is that every single player has a complete understanding of what is required in his position,” Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel. “So if a guy is picked the ball-carrying lineout number seven, if it’s BJ Dixon, Elrigh Louw or Pieter-Steph du Toit, they understand exactly what Rassie and the coaches want from that position. “Even if someone like Esterhuizen goes in there, he’s able to replicate what those guys would be doing in a maul or in a lineout or carrying it up on second or third phase, and this goes right through the team. “You obviously have different strengths in each player, but Pollard, Sacha, or Manie can all step in, and they understand the game plan and exactly how we want to play, which is the strength.” ‘A slap in the face’ – Rassie Erasmus makes Argentina vow amid Greatest Rivalry talk Mallett: “I don’t feel at all nervous” With the players having clarity in their roles, Mallett is comfortable with whatever matchday 23 Erasmus selects for a particular match. He believes that the alignment camps have been hugely influential in creating this kind of depth, as have been the matches where more inexperienced teams have been selected. Erasmus notably picked a very inexperienced team against Scotland in July and did similarly against the Wallabies in Australia in 2024. “The strength is the fact that we’ve got several players who all understand their role with absolute clarity, and that is incredibly important,” Mallett continued. Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust. “Even on defence… you equally have to know exactly what your role is in each position. I think all the alignment camps, all the times we’ve had ‘reserve teams’ playing like the All Blacks or the French or the Australians or whoever we’re playing on Saturday, have really built up some knowledge in this group of players. “That’s why every time they run out, I don’t feel at all nervous about any of these guys running onto the field, except with how fit they are going to be after their injuries, and let’s hope they can get through and produce great performances. “I’m hoping that they can perform really well, but I have no doubt that every single one of them knows exactly what is required on Saturday, and the 15 who left back in South Africa know exactly what is required if they’re going to be called up against the All Blacks as well.”