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Definitely not risk averse but Rassie’s selection does respect Italy

rugby13 November 2025 15:35| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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Rassie Erasmus © Gallo Images

Stating that Rassie Erasmus is not risk averse is like saying that the moon is round or that if you don’t eat you will eventually perish, but there may be some who fear the Springbok coach is pushing the envelope quite far by making 11 changes for Saturday’s test against Italy in Turin.

What was expected to be a relatively stress free watching experience for Bok supporters in comparison to the two other Saturdays that this game is wedged in between has now become potentially fraught.

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Erasmus himself calls it as a 50/50 game and for reasons that would be easy for argue if he was a bookmaker rather than a coach.

“Anyone who studies rugby knows that this could be a tough game for us, their coach is an Argentinian and I know him well and know how good he is,” said Erasmus after naming a much changed side from the one that prevailed against European champions France in Paris last weekend.

“He is a very good technical coach and the scores in South Africa (in July) were not a reflection of those games. He has lots of players back that weren’t on that tour, like Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, two very good centres. We know we will be facing the strongest Italy team this week and they are coming off a good win against Australia.

“We know they can play better than they did against us in South Africa because they are at home this time. And for once we are going into a game where we have fewer international caps than the opposition. We have a few younger players in the team, we are away from home against Italy. I see it as a 50/50 game.”

The last portion of that quote is what is interesting because most of it was stuff he could have avoided or at least control.

He is rightly appreciative of what the Italy midfield can do, but he has chosen to put two young players together in his own centre combination to face them. What is up with that?

Well, it comes down to Erasmus’s view that he will get more out of the game from a growth viewpoint by throwing players together for whom the experience of playing in Turin will be more of a learning experience.

And his belief that you don’t properly grow your depth without putting the fringe players or the promising players coming through to a proper test.

Which they will get on Saturday without having that many experienced hands around them to play the role of buffer.

YOUNG CENTRES PLAYING THE POSITIONS THEY WANT TO PLAY

And when it comes to the midfield, he’s got two players who may be young but who have proved themselves elsewhere and are now getting a chance in their preferred positions.

“I know if you ask Ethan (Hooker) where he would most prefer to play he will say he is a No 12, and if you ask Canan Moodie what his best position is he will say he wants Danie Gerber’s jersey, which is 13.

“Canan has lost only once in the Bok jersey, but he is just as comfortable on the wing and when it comes to Ethan he’s played mostly wing and occasionally 13 for us but he wants to be a 12. This is their chance to show what they can do.”

But there was more to it than that, and here is why Erasmus isn’t disrespecting Italy with his selection, and may in fact be doing the exact opposite - he has learned from experience that it is hard to back up a physical, emotional win over France the following week.

He is fielding a fresher team in Turin to avoid the banana skin the Boks nearly tripped over at the last World Cup.

“We learned our lessons from the World Cup in France when we beat France and then fielded the same team against England in the World Cup semifinal. We were very 'pap' against England,” says Erasmus.

“After a game like that of high emotion, like last week’s, it might not be respectful to your opponents to go in with a team that might be sore and tired after playing such a big game seven days earlier. You also have to look at the logistics. We arrived home from Stade de France in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“We then left early the next morning to fly out to come here. We arrived in the afternoon, then there were meetings. This is actually respect for Italy. We are not going with the guys who might be fatigued and exhausted from last Saturday’s game. We are going with guys who haven’t played that much and have things to prove.”

It is a fair point, and it is reasonable to wonder how much more motivated the newcomers might be to make a statement in comparison to the players who won the big game of the tour last Saturday night so convincingly.

And Erasmus does have a track record - it was after a loss and not a win, but the last time he changed up his team so much and went for the exciting options, which in many cases he has with this selection, was when the Boks got to Wellington after losing narrowly against the All Blacks at Eden Park.

The result was a record win for the Boks, and they do have the back-up on the bench to act as a safety net against things going pear-shaped.

The bulk of the Bomb Squad will be reprising the roles they played last week, so if for instance Zachary Porthen struggles in his second international game, he has Wilco Louw to replace him, and ditto Gerhard Steenekamp lining up again behind Venter.

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