Erasmus heeds error from Ireland series to try and sink All Blacks again

Rassie Erasmus had Ireland on his mind as he prepared South Africa for a second straight clash with New Zealand in the Rugby Championship in Cape Town this Saturday.

The coach didn’t want to make the same mistake he made in July when Ireland toured for two tests and he picked an unchanged team to attempt a series sweep.

The first test against Ireland was won 27-20, and Erasmus stayed faithful and sent out the most experienced Springboks lineup in history, 990 caps worth. They came from 10 points down at halftime to lead by five, but two long-range drop goals by Ireland in the last 10 minutes sunk the world champions.

The Springboks couldn’t reach the summit on consecutive weekends and blamed a falloff in intensity after the first test.

In the same position this week between All Blacks tests, Erasmus didn’t want to set up his side for the same outcome as the Ireland series.

So after New Zealand was overcome 31-27 late at Ellis Park last weekend, Erasmus made changes, mainly to freshen his backline and try and stem the All Blacks backs, who scored three of their four tries.

He brought in Grant Williams, Handre Pollard, Canan Moodie and Willie le Roux, all Rugby World Cup winners. The pack set up all three Boks tries in Johannesburg and the only alteration was lock Eben Etzebeth, who didn’t start the first test but played the majority of it.

Satisfied that his forwards can at least earn parity with New Zealand’s, Erasmus reverted the bench to a traditional 5-3 split to see if backs Jaden Hendrikse, Lukhanyo Am and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu can make a second-half difference.

Moodie and Hendrikse will play their first tests this year. Pollard and le Roux have their first starts since the Ireland series. They’re brimming with energy to earn a rare fourth successive win against New Zealand.

Erasmus had to make only one enforced change, to replace concussed wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.

He also could have dropped captain Siya Kolisi, whose nose was broken by counterpart Sam Cane’s head, an incident which went unpunished but for which Cane apologised, according to Erasmus. Given a choice between fixing his nose before or after this test, Kolisi decided on after, and Erasmus delayed publicly announcing his team for two days to be satisfied the decision was right.

The defending champion All Blacks have addressed their second-half slumps by dropping veteran backs Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara into the reserves in hope the bench will offer more punch.

New Zealand hasn’t scored a point after the 52nd minute in this Rugby Championship, and has a 1-2 record. It was overhauled by Argentina late in Wellington and, last weekend, it failed to hold a 10-point lead at Ellis Park with 12 minutes to go.

Under heavy pressure from South Africa, New Zealand wilted and its indiscipline — another cross to bear — was exploited.

By fulltime, the All Blacks conceded 14 penalties (to five). They have run up double-figure penalty counts in all three tournament matches. The most penalised team in the tournament is particularly exposed in rucks, which makes breakdown turnovers harder to come by.

The All Blacks are gambling on flanker Wallace Sititi and scrumhalf Cortez Ratima — seven caps between them — to help them avoid losing three tournament games for the first time.

The unbeaten Springboks have an outside chance of clinching their first Rugby Championship title since 2019, with help. They need a bonus-point win and to deny New Zealand anything, and Australia has to beat Argentina later in Santa Fe without a bonus point.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby