Rassie Erasmus expects Lions to play with expansive game plan

Springbok director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, will warn his squad to expect Warren Gatland’s British and Irish Lions to have ‘something up their sleeve,’ for the three-test series against South Africa. Erasmus, who was in charge of the Springboks when they were given an almighty fright by Gatland’s Wales in the World Cup semi-final in Japan before comfortably beating England seven days later, names a 45-man squad next Saturday.

The 48-year-old will be at pains to stress to his players when they eventually get together to expect a style of play altogether different from the tense encounter in Yokohama 18 months ago. Gatland’s teams have long been associated with a heavy-duty, attritional approach but Erasmus believes that the Lions squad selection indicates a different mindset.

“I think he has something up his sleeve and I don't think we will see this battle of attrition and grinding it out like in the World Cup,” said Erasmus. “The way Warren has picked this squad and his support staff with the assistant coaches, with Gregor (Townsend) in there and the backline chosen, I think he has other plans. Look at the loose forwards that he has picked. He has done so much coaching of the Lions that he knows the importance of trying to get guys aligned quickly. He has his attack coach in Gregor and the Scottish guys (like Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg), so I think we will see a change in his game-plan. We will definitely see a mix, of it not being the Wales Test-match (style). Of course, he might just be throwing us some bait.”

As might Erasmus himself who will work in tandem with the appointed head coach, Jacques Nienaber, who has been a long-term ally of the former Springbok, working under him at the World Cup as defence coach as he did at Munster during the two years Erasmus spent there. One of Nienaber’s previous roles was as High Performance Manager for South Africa Rugby where he and Erasmus came across a young talent named Duhan van der Merwe, now exiled in Scotland and heading back to his homeland with the Lions.

“Duhan was in the Junior Springbok team that lost in the final in New Zealand so we know him pretty well,” said Erasmus. “I remember sitting with him and his dad afterwards and discussing his future. He’s come the full path with SA Rugby. We’re not of the mindset that he doesn’t deserve to play anywhere else. Good for him. The way he’s played, nobody can argue. He will know most of our guys fairly well. It’s weird but in a way we’re proud of him.”

The Springboks will stay with the policy they established in 2019 of allowing their players to make up their own minds as to how they project their own feelings towards anti-racism having led the way in addressing such issues through their Rugby Against Discrimination Campaign (RADAR) which was set up long before the taking the knee practice seen in this country.

“We are comfortable in following our own (RADAR) programme which was well documented long before the kneeling and all the other things that happen,” said Erasmus. “In South Africa we have long been dealing with stuff like that.”

Erasmus also warned against writing-off Springbok chances for the series against Lions on the basis that they have not played since beating England in the World Cup final in Japan in November 2019. Erasmus defied the odds in getting the ‘Boks in shape to win their third World Cup when taking over an under-performing team only 18 months before the tournament.

Even though he admits that the build-up to the Lions tour is ‘not ideal,’ he is also at pains to stress that he has great faith in a squad that is expected to feature 30 players from that World Cup venture. There is little prospect of the Springboks being undercooked.

“The preparation is not ideal but it’s not the end of the world,” said Erasmus.

“It’s a valid question (about lack of preparation) and we have discussed it a lot. From the 33 man squad at the World Cup, who were together for 22 weeks prior to the tournament, only three have retired so 30 are available. And those guys are familiar with each other. The British and Irish Lions haven’t played together (at all) since their last test match together. And we are all from the one country, we are all South Africans, we know each other. The Lions have to put four countries together with four different game plans, styles and cultures and mindsets whereas we have one, that of South Africa.”

There was a time when people in South Africa bemoaned the brawn-drain north to Europe or Japan with studies at one point estimating that the number of potential Springbok players earning their living outside the country to be in the hundreds. Far from seeing that exodus as a disadvantage Erasmus believes that having exiles such as Toulouse’s Champions Cup winner, wing Cheslin Kolbe, or the raft of players like Sale Sharks’ scrum-half, Faf de Klerk playing abroad, works in the Springboks’ favour. Even the unheralded emergence of players such as Leicester back-rower, Jasper Wiese, ensures that the pool of talent from which to pick is deep.

“The advantage we do have, for the first time probably as a result of our currency being weak, is our players playing all over the world,” said Erasmus. “The nice thing is that our old dogs, our big dogs, our guys who were mostly involved in the World Cup and who got better offers overseas, are playing consistently and against the British and Irish Lions players.”

Nienaber echoed those sentiments with particular regard to Wiese.

“Jasper had an opportunity to go and play in the Premiership and he has really knocked the door down,” said Nienaber. “He has blossomed there. We have had a good look at him. It is nice when that happens, when you have good communication with a club. It is tough for us to compete with currency, the rand versus the pound. We will never advise a player to go but if a player does want to go and there is an opportunity, it is always nice for us to say: ‘Listen, there is an awesome club like Leicester, we have a good relationship and we think your rugby will thrive there, you will become a better player and it will probably advance your career’. Probably 90 per cent of the clubs abroad are like that.”

South Africa is bracing itself for a possible third wave of coronavirus infections although Erasmus, who has had Covid himself, revealed that family life is normal with his children at school. He is braced for being in a ‘hard bubble,’ for the Lions tour with players unable to be dispatched to play provincial fixtures against the tourists. Erasmus would like to see domestic crowds of up to 25 per cent or even 50 per cent capacity but stresses that the government closed doors policy will not be questioned.

“We are handling the situation better because we are getting used to it,” said Erasmus. “We were facing the prospect of not having the Lions tour at all. We were prepared to play in the UK, in Dubai, with or without crowds. Postponing it would not work. We are really thankful it is going to happen. It is so special. A World Cup is the pinnace but, hell, a Lions tour is bloody close.”