Eddie Jones believes that Rassie Erasmus is rebuilding the Springboks rather than building depth.
After winning back-to-back World Cups, the Australian veteran thinks that the transitional period is underway for South Africa, with the next generation pushing their way into the squad.
Erasmus has repeatedly expressed the need to bring in new blood into the Green and Gold jersey, but at the same time has explained that the Springboks coaching team would not push players out of the team simply because of their age.
For the clash in Cape Town against the Wallabies, Erasmus has made 10 changes to his starting XV, in a vastly experienced matchday 23 overall.
The tried and tested combination of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel features in the centres, while double World Cup winner Handre Pollard at fly-half. Meanwhile, Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager have been included on the bench.
Springboks are in a transitional period
Commenting on Erasmus’ selections, Jones says that the Springboks are in a transitional period but will continue to lean on the experienced players to get results.
“If you look at the starting 30 [both teams] from last week, I think seven are out with injury, so that’s nearly 25% of the total players out through injury,” he said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“You then start to think, are we looking after the players well enough? This is a constant theme in rugby. The rugby year has become a 12-month calendar in a lot of ways, and particularly for the South African players who play in Japan.
“There’s that part of it [all the changes], and the second part is that the Springboks are going through some sort of transitional period.
“They’ve had two successful World Cups, and because of that, they’ve had players at the right age to win it. Those players who have been up for eight years are starting to get older.
“So they need to be thinking about how to replace those players, and I think Rassie has spoken about that in a way with how he talks about building depth, but they are they are rebuilding to an extent.
“This team’s gone back to the old formula. De Allende comes back, Willie le Roux comes back, Pollard, Jean-Luc du Preez is the big, physical number eight. They’ve gone back to a better calling lock, which has always been a traditional part of the Springbok setup.
“Sometimes when you’re rebuilding, you have to go back to the past to help you rebuild again. Losing that Test would have hurt them, and they’ve gone back to a more tried and true combination that he thinks can do the job in Cape Town.”
Big Wallabies development and what to expect in Cape Town
While the Springboks rebuild and transition, the Wallabies continue to grow under Joe Schmidt, and Jones pinpointed a major development highlighted by the victory over South Africa at Ellis Park.
“If you remember back to the first Test against the Lions, Joe congratulated the team at the end for the ability to stay in the contest, and he said 12 months ago they couldn’t do that,” Jones remarked.
“I think that’s the big development of the team, being able to stay in the contest. For some players, it’s their third year of international rugby, for others it’s their second year. So they’re starting to develop or have that experience at the Test level, and you only get better as a Test player by playing Tests and high-level Tests. So they are starting to accumulate that hardness, that toughness, to stay in the contest.”
Jones hailed the impact the experienced campaigners have made on the youthful squad, singling out the likes of Nic White, James Slipper and Will Skelton.
“They got some good role models there. We’ve spoken about Skelton; he’s certainly leading that way,” he added.
“Slipper has been good for them, been outstanding, and White has come back into the team rejuvenated and done a really good job.
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“Then you got a few of those young guys who are really lighting up in the Test arena, like Max Jorgensen and Joseph Suaalii, and Tom Wright has had his moments. So, they’re starting to accumulate a team that has a basis of being a good team.”
On the clash in Cape Town, he added: “But the big Test is to keep doing it, and this week they know the examination that’s going to come.
“It’s going to be probably an old-fashioned South African around the corner, Pollard high balls – it’ll be raining. So, they will know what’s coming, and they’ll prepare for it; they won’t be seduced by last week’s success.
“They’ll know it’ll be a good, tough game; they would have battened down the hatches this week and got ready for it.”