Rassie Erasmus drew on the memory of last year's Ellis Park collapse to galvanise his side at halftime as the Springboks beat England 45-21 in an inaugural Nations Championship match on Saturday, running in seven tries to three.
The Boks tore into an early lead, crossing three times in the opening 12 minutes to lead 17-0, but England steadied to make it 17-14 at the break — an uncomfortable echo of the 22-0 lead the Boks squandered against Australia at the same ground eleven months ago before losing 38-22.
"We did have flashbacks to last year," said Erasmus. "The chat at halftime was definitely: 'boys, we've been here before and we know how it feels if we don't rectify things in the second half.' Luckily we had that game last year and we could rectify things during the half-time chat."
The Boks did so emphatically, pulling clear in the second half for a final margin of 24 points.
The victory came despite the eve-of-match withdrawals of Siya Kolisi (hamstring) and Eben Etzebeth (head knock), which forced a reshuffle across the pack. Paul de Villiers came in at flanker on debut, Cameron Hanekom won his second cap, and Pieter-Steph du Toit shifted to lock — a position he hasn't occupied for an extended period — and took on the captaincy.
Erasmus framed the disruption as an opportunity rather than a setback, noting the team's average age dropped from 31 to 27 with the changes in place. "Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to slot players in and out. It's tough not to play Siya when Paul is coming through and Marco is coming through, and you ask yourself where are you going to play them. But destiny took charge of that today and it worked out the right way."
Du Toit was characteristically unfazed by the late positional switch. "The system is set in stone and if you buy into the system, the system will take care of the player," he said.
Erasmus used the occasion to speak openly about World Cup planning, acknowledging the pressure to blood players before next year's tournament. "We have to make big calls this year to be 100 percent sure when we go into the World Cup next year that we've tested our depth."
On the injury front, Ox Nche is likely to miss next Saturday's match against Scotland after departing early with a knee problem. Etzebeth and Kolisi will be monitored, while Andre Esterhuizen — who left the field after a blow to the neck — is also being assessed. Erasmus noted that eight locks were already sidelined or unavailable for the England match, though Ben-Jason Dixon made a strong impact off the bench.
"All in all, I thought it was an above-average performance," Erasmus said.