Robert Kitson's Breakdown column frames the second Test in Cape Town through the lens of Erasmus's increasingly brazen selectorial theatre — six changes between the announced XV and the side that actually ran out, timed to maximum psychological effect. It worked: South Africa levelled the four-Test series at 1-1. Kitson's broader argument is that Erasmus operates in a grey zone between gamesmanship and genuine tactical disruption, and that a reinvigorated All Blacks outfit still has enough in them to make the back half of this series genuinely compelling.
AnalysisSpringboksThe Guardian Rugby
Erasmus's team-sheet mind games light up the 'Greatest Rivalry' series
Kitson dissects Erasmus's latest team-announcement mind games — six late changes before the second Test — and what South Africa levelling the series at 1-1 means for the back half of a four-Test showdown with a resurgent All Blacks.
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
- New Zealand
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So how deep is the Springbok squad?
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