Springbok captain Siya Kolisi will feature at eighthman for the first time in his career for the Boks, having played in the position at franchise level.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that the Bok team management changed their minds about captain Siya Kolisi featuring at No 8 for the national team, after he was selected there for the first Test of the Rugby Championship against the Wallabies at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Boks do not have an out and out eighthman in the current squad, due to Jasper Wiese serving a ban for his red card picked up against Italy, and Evan Roos having been released back to his union.
Kwagga Smith is probably the closest the Boks have to a genuine eighthman, but he is preferred for his impact from off the bench.
The inexperienced (at international level) Jean-Luc du Preez, and utility forwards Marco van Staden and Cobus Wiese were the other options, along with Kolisi, for the No 8 jersey.
Kolisi backed
In the end, it seems like Kolisi’s stint at eighthman for the Sharks during the United Rugby Championship earlier this season, and a shift in mindset from the Bok coaching group, led to the decision to give him a go.
“Siya at eight, we changed our mind there. The more we practiced and prepared, we realised that the only time he really plays at eight is when we are scrumming, which happens about 13 or 14 times a game,” explained Erasmus on Monday.
“But general play happens more, so we felt that having Pieter-Steph (du Toit), Marco and Siya on the field at the same time is beneficial for us. Australia are a big threat at the breakdown and they fight hard there. All three of them are really good at cleaning out and stealing at the breakdown and we feel we are going to need that.
“So Siya will probably be packing down for about six scrums (on our ball), and maybe on (scrum) defence he might be at flank and Marco at eight.
“Daan (Human, the scrum coach) is really happy with the way they are scrumming, so it is really just at scrum time when Siya will be at eight. In general play, on defence and attack, he will be playing his regular game.
“I know a couple of weeks ago I said that Siya is a six and not an eight, but we came to the conclusion that we won’t need him to play like an out and out eight during the game, and then we have Kwagga on the bench who can cover there as well.”
Surprise announcement
The Boks sprung a surprise by naming their team for the game on Monday, which they usually do on Tuesday, and Erasmus admitted that they could still make a late change to their game day squad, depending on the Aussie match 23 which will be named on Thursday.
“Because we have been preparing for Australia for the last three weeks we decided to release the team a bit early. Usually after the incoming series we go into the Rugby Championship sooner, but there was a longer break this year,” said Erasmus.
“So everyone (in the squad) knew who was playing and we just wanted to get all the speculation out of the way so that the focus can fully be on the (playing) team and the match.
“We might make a slight change later in the week if they decide to go six-two (split on the bench). If you look at their squad they have brought a lot of forwards on tour. So if they do that, RG (Snyman) might come into the mix. But if they go with a standard five-three this is our team.”
