Rassie Erasmus has revealed that the Springboks' dressing room at half-time against England on Saturday was briefly haunted by the memory of last year's 38-22 collapse at Ellis Park, after England clawed the deficit back from 17-0 to 17-14 before the break.
"We did definitely see flashbacks of last year and I think it's easy to say now after we won that we learned from mistakes, but the chat was there at halftime," Erasmus said following the Boks' 45-21 victory in their Nations Championship opener. "'Boys, we've been here, we know how it feels if we don't rectify things in the second half.' Luckily we had that game last year — we could rectify things during the halftime chat."
The second half was a different story, the Boks running out emphatic winners and underlining the squad depth Erasmus has spent the past two years constructing. That depth was tested before kick-off when Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth both withdrew, handing Pieter-Steph du Toit the captaincy and pushing two largely uncapped loosies into the starting XV. Cameron Hanekom had one cap from the bench in 2024; Paul de Villiers was making his international debut.
Erasmus was candid about the preparation challenges beyond the late personnel changes. Du Toit had had limited game time over recent months, Manie Libbok had been playing second-division rugby in Japan, and Grant Williams had also been short of match practice.
"It's normally the biggest challenge for us after not playing together for seven months — how quickly can we get in sync and how match-fit the guys can be," Erasmus said.
Du Toit credited the squad's entrenched system for allowing the two young loosies to slot in without disruption. "The system will take care of the player. We had an extra clarity session and made sure they know exactly what to do. I think that's a nice thing about us at the moment — we've got a really good system."
Erasmus acknowledged the selection balancing act that World Cup planning creates, with established names competing for places alongside emerging options such as Marco van Staden. "Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to swap in and out. We've got a saying, 'it will come to us' — but certainly we'll have to make some big calls this year to be 100% sure about next year that when we get into the World Cup, we test our depth."
He also flagged the aerial contest as a growing tactical priority, with Damian Willemse prominent under the high ball. "It's another source of possession," Erasmus said, describing it as a new set piece.