Springboks: Rassie Erasmus has one eye on England with 7-1 split ...

Rassie Erasmus has explained why the Springboks have selected a 7-1 split for the first time since the Rugby World Cup.

The Springboks famously used the controversial tactic for the first time ahead for the tournament in their 35-7 victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham before doing so twice again in France.

During the pool stages of the tournament, the 7-1 split was unable to overcome Ireland as the Springboks fell to a narrow 13-8 defeat but it paid dividends in the final as South Africa clinched their fourth World Cup title, defeating New Zealand 12-11.

However, Erasmus has refrained from using the tactic at all in 2024 until now, naming forwards Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese on the bench along with back Grant Williams for the clash against Scotland.

The Bok boss explained that the reasoning for the decision to go back to the 7-1 split has do with their upcoming match against England at Twickenham which takes place just six days after their showdown with Scotland at Murrayfield.

South Africa have not gone unbeaten in November in 11 years, a trend that Erasmus is aiming to buck and he feels that this tactic gives his team the best opportunity to do just that.

“We’ve done this because we play against England in six days and we hope this way, they won’t be ‘pap’ for England,” the Bok head coach explained.

“Ideally the forwards will each play a half of rugby against Scotland.”

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England pushed the Springboks all the way the last time the two sides faced off  – in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-finals with South Africa’s bench playing a major role in the match’s outcome yet again.

Handre Pollard famously replaced Manie Libbok before half-time and kicked seven of the team’s 16 points including a conversion after Snyman’s try.

Erasmus clearly believes that his side will face another stern test at Twickenham Stadium in a week’s time and is hoping to have a fresh pack to tackle Steve Borthwick’s charges.

“The team is comfortable with the 7-1, we have done two or three times,” he added in an interview with SuperSport.

“We said it last week already to the squad during our training camp in Jersey and we told the guys that we are going to go 7-1 because the England game is a six-day turnaround.

“Normally, it’s taxing on our forwards the way we play and we saw in the World Cup that we were a bit flat going into that game.

“Hopefully if we can split the load, I know not all eight forwards will get the rest – we will see who can hang in the longest – but it’s definitely a bit of load management.

“Then also, we are playing towards our strengths in this game against Scotland but saying that is also interesting to put some guys on the bench and then almost experience what it’s like on the sidelines, how you feel and how you get your feel of the game.

“Maybe in the future with a 6-2 split or a 5-3 split, some guys are comfortable starting and some guys are comfortable coming off the bench and we don’t want to put guys in small little boxes like that and they just do that.”

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Meanwhile, Sunday’s encounter against Scotland will see Kwagga Smith earn his 50th Test match for the Springboks and to celebrate the occasion, Erasmus has handed the back-rower a starting role at number eight, with the livewire loose forward usually amongst the replacements.

This means that Kolisi will feature off the bench, a five-year first for the Springboks skipper who has earnt his last 43 Test caps in the starting XV.

“This is a seasoned and quality team and adding to that 21 of the 23 players have won a Rugby World Cup title, with some having won two, so they know what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.

“Many of these combinations have also played together this season either during the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Rugby Championship, or both, which will be valuable against a quality team such as Scotland.

“We are expecting an extremely physical match, so we opted for a seven-one split of forwards on the bench, and this was aided by the fact that we have such versatile players in the backline, who can cover different positions if necessary.”

Erasmus added: “Kwagga is a vastly talented player and a fantastic team member, and I’m delighted to see him reach this big career milestone. It takes a special player who performs consistently well over a few years to reach this achievement, and Kwagga has certainly done so while maintaining the same high standards at training and on the field. We are very proud of him.”

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