The pressure that is on the Springboks heading into Saturday’s second Castle Lager Rugby Championship game against the Wallabies might be more related to what the result might mean to Rassie Erasmus’ plans going forward than to their chances of winning the competition.
If the worst case scenario unfolds and the Boks lose, the reaction of supporters might force a rethink and adjustment to the selection strategy that is focused on developing for the next World Cup on Australian soil in 2027 while also trying to win now. But Erasmus would back his team to still win the Championship. As he said at the team announcement press conference, “This is not a make-or-break game”.
And it would also suggest a massive problem with the South African development system if there weren’t players who came through in the interim and were by 2027 better options than at least a clutch of the World Cup winners. Erasmus will be mindful of that and mindful of the reality that it is better to be forward thinking and pro-active than leave it to chance and have to make wholesale changes when it is too late and he is forced to do so.
And history bears him out - Jonny Wilkinson at 24 was the youngest World Cup winning flyhalf when he kicked the drop-goal that won the 2003 final for England. It’s not just Feinberg-Mngomezulu that needs to build international experience, but several other players who will potentially fill important positions in 2027.
The two young Bulls front-row forwards know each other. They are both Bulls. Indeed, there are five Bulls in the pack. And then there’s a bench brimming with World Cup winners and experience. Last week Feinberg-Mngomezulu and the Boks had a safety net in Pollard being on the bench, this time there’s a whole bench that has the ability to change the game for the team should it be necessary.
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