Injured Kolisi and PSDT force Bok loose forward reshuffle after honest squad meeting

Daily Maverick

2 days ago

The Springbok squad are in agreement about how to turn their fortunes around after an honest meeting on Sunday.
The Springboks could face a loose forward shortage if any more players go down after Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit were ruled out of Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Cape Town.
Following an uncharacteristic implosion that saw the Boks slump to a 38-22 loss after leading 22-0, these injury setbacks have compounded their problems.
Kolisi, who performed well at No 8 last week and whose leadership was missed after halftime when the Boks fell apart, is out for at least four weeks with a knee injury.
That means he will probably miss the two Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand next month — a further blow for the Boks.
Du Toit has a concussion and is out of the frame this weekend, but will be ready for the All Blacks.
Considering the Boks are already without the suspended Jasper Wiese and the injured Elrigh Louw, who cemented his place in the squad last year, the stocks are thinning rapidly.
Cameron Hanekom, who made his Test debut against Wales in the final outing of 2024, was earmarked to kick on this season, but he is also sidelined with a long-term injury.
Coach Rassie Erasmus, who said the team for the return clash against the Wallabies was decided on Sunday night, has obviously made a plan for this weekend, but he is one loose forward injury away from a back row crisis.
Kwagga Smith could start at No 8, where his breakdown work and link play will give the Boks some grunt. Midway through the first half at Ellis Park last week, the Boks started struggling at the breakdown, which turned the momentum of the clash.
Replacing Du Toit could fall to Ruan Nortjé, who has been used in the blindside flank role by the Bulls this season. He is a lock but has the mobility to operate on the side of the scrum. It will also help shore up a misfiring lineout.
Another option is to bring in Jean-Luc du Preez or Franco Mostert at No 7. There are all feasible possibilities, but with the Boks likely to revert to a 6-2 split on the bench, all four of those players are likely to be included in some way, alongside Marco van Staden.
One left-field option could be to start André Esterhuizen, the 'hybrid' player, at blindside flank. That would be a bold move after such a chastening defeat, but Erasmus has never been shy to do the unexpected.
More injuries
To add to Erasmus' problems, which are significant after a stuttering season that included mediocre performances against Italy and Georgia, there are even more injury problems.
Wing Kurt-Lee Arendse (knee) and Edwill van der Merwe (ankle) are both out. Makazole Mapimpi has been called up, and Arendse has been released, suggesting he won't make the New Zealand tour either.
'They gave us shots there [at the breakdown],' said Erasmus, referring to the Ellis Park debacle.
'Siya hurt his knee about five minutes from halftime, and shortly after that, Marco [van Staden's] mouthguard pinged, which meant he needed to be assessed. [He was cleared.]
'Then Kwagga had to come on, then Pieter-Steph had to go off concussed. The Wallabies were really good at the breakdown — and legally so. They really had our number there.'
The Boks were shut out in the second half at Ellis Park, while conceding 38 unanswered points – 33 of them in the second half.
For all their superb attacking play in the opening quarter, the Boks fell away alarmingly, as their confidence drained while that of the Wallabies soared.
The problems were probably more mental than physical. The Boks showed they could score and dominate, but when Australia metaphorically punched them in the face, the world champions wilted.
'The thing is, if you play beautiful rugby and you lose, you lose. If you play boring rugby and you win, you win, and people are happy,' said Eramus, alluding to the fact that his team lost all defensive composure.
'We were totally on the wrong side of that balance on Saturday. And that's not because of Tony [Brown, the Boks' attack coach].
'I think it's a trap that we also fell into against Italy in the first match when we were 25 points up [the Boks led 28-3 at halftime].
'You tend to think things are now easy and there's so much space, and then a proud team like Australia take the opportunity.'
The Boks had a 'clear the air meeting' on Sunday and have decided to draw a line under the outcome at Ellis Park, if not the performance.
'Everybody wants to find the solution,' said Erasmus.
'Was the last message in the changing room not good enough? Is it when we were 22-0 up and trying to put them away, yet forgetting how desperate Australia are to be a force at a home World Cup going in two years' time?
'There are so many things that we can find wrong when we spoke about it, but then at the end of the day we must go and look at this move, at that scrum, at that lineout.
'We always want to try to keep the balance between the traditional way we play and some new things we're aiming to get right. I don't think the meeting was bad or tense, because we're all adults.
'Sometimes we get upset with each other, but I think everybody's in agreement [about] what we have to do to rectify it on Saturday.' DM