OPINION: Springbok rotation U-turn leaves wider squad, fringe players in limbo

Erasmus is entitled to pick the team that gives him the best chance of victory. But players have always thrived under his rotation policy. Rassie Erasmus and his assistant coaches have been loath to publicly say any one Springbok player is better than another, and the head coach even once stated he has no first-choice flyhalf. But settling on almost the same matchday 23 for the last two Tests against the All Blacks, after initially saying he would use up to six more players, makes it seem as though the Springboks are backtracking on their rotation policy, which they have used in the past even for big games. In interviews, Springbok players have always said the rotation policy was a key motivating factor: fringe players were always in the picture, healthy competition drove improvement, and hard work would eventually be rewarded. Now, flyhalf Handré Pollard, centre Canan Moodie and scrumhalf Grant Williams – expected to play in Baltimore on Saturday after Erasmus’ early narrative – were omitted from the team. Tried and tested Springboks Of course, Erasmus is entitled to select whomever he wants. He is the coach. And he is probably 100% correct to go with largely the same team that beat the All Blacks in Cape Town and Soweto – the Boks have learned from their errors in Johannesburg, developed strategies to meet the All Blacks where they are strong, and implemented those plans with the players they deem best to do so. What about the fringe players? The only issue is: how do the above-mentioned Springboks, and other players such as Aphelele Fassi, Paul de Villiers, Zach Porthen and many others, feel about it? When asked about the matter, Erasmus said the plan was “always” to have selection continuity with players who were peaking in games three and four. And the Springboks had already rotated their squad extensively in the Barbarians, Nations Championship and Argentina clashes, while also getting a glimpse of SA ‘A’ players against Zimbabwe. He mentioned Faf de Klerk, Embrose Papier, Quan Horn, Aphelele Fassi, Cobus Wiese and Ben-Jason Dixon as not being forgotten, but already having their run-ins. Furthermore, Franco Mostert should feature against the Wallabies in two weeks. It will be interesting to see whether Erasmus rotates the squad that game and in the final Nations Championship matches in Europe in November.