Rassie hopes it doesn’t get sticky Down Under

Fans shouldn’t expect the Springboks to come flying out the blocks on Sunday, warns Rassie Erasmus, but the team will be hungry to play after “idling for a hell of a long time”.

The Bok coach addressed the media on Tuesday from Terrigal after naming André Esterhuizen to lead a line-up against the Wallabies boasting 13 changes from the side that beat New Zealand on 12 September.

Scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies starts his first Test since 2023, but centres Esterhuizen and Canan Moodie in midfield, locks Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert and the back three of Aphelele Fassi, Edwill van der Merwe and Ethan Hooker, none of the combos are proven.

Addressing the risk of rustiness after such an overhaul, Erasmus said most of his starters were averaging around 140 minutes over the past six weeks. 

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“A guy like Herschel has played probably 40 minutes, so it’s not every player who’s got 140 minutes,” he said. “But the balance could have been, ‘listen here, let’s chop and change against New Zealand and we lose the series.’ There’s always a balance.”

On what to expect from the reshuffled team, Erasmus pointed to a similarly disjointed performance against Argentina in Buenos Aires last month.

“I don’t think they’re going to fire from the start. But I can tell you that they’re really hungry. They really want to play and they’ve been idling for a hell of a long time.

“Hopefully it doesn’t get too sticky in the beginning. But it’s not like Australia has played 300 minutes in the last three weeks or so. I think we’ll be OK.”

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Erasmus said the average age of the starting XV was 28, with the bench at 29, and caps ranging between 35 and 40.

“It’s a really mobile team … something we’ll have to match Australia with, the way they defend and fill the field and keep the ball through structure alive,” he added.

Erasmus noted that Fassi has proven himself before, with Van der Merwe fully deserving his chance and the Moodie-Esterhuizen midfield pairing among the team’s strengths. 

He reckons replacement Quan Horn must still get a “solid chance”, with the rest bringing stability in the event of a crisis or game getting away from South Africa at Optus Stadium. 

“It’s a well-balanced team; a bit younger than the team that played last time, with some proper back-up on the bench.”

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Photo: Juan Jose Gasparini/Gallo Images