Rassie Erasmus hits out as people continue to criticise apparent Springboks issue
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Ageing.
Rassie Erasmus has pushed back at the continued debate around his ageing Springbok squad, insisting his experienced players are giving him little reason to leave them out.
With South Africa chasing a third successive World Cup title next year, questions remain over how many of their established stars can continue delivering through another tournament.
But Erasmus believes the discussion is increasingly overlooking what those players are producing on the pitch.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Italy in Turin, the Springboks boss pointed to centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende as examples of players whose performances continue to justify their selection.
“I don’t know if that’s frustrating people, but that’s certainly us slowly evolving and knowing that players are getting older, but as long as they perform,” Erasmus said.
“I feel that’s what the older players have done. Jesse keeps on performing. Damian keeps on performing. So you can’t not pick them.”
For Erasmus, the suggestion that South Africa are standing still also ignores how quickly the age profile can change with a handful of different selections.
“Everyone loves to beat the drum that the team is getting older,” he said.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s heartwarming when South African people are talking about are the team getting too old?
“The team that played five weeks ago against New Zealand had an average age of 32; the team that plays this weekend has an average of 29. So it’s two or three changes in a team, and that’s why I so thoroughly enjoy the South African supporters.”
The challenge, he explained, is introducing the next generation while maintaining the standards expected of the reigning world champions.
“People are starting to talk not so much about our results and where we are; they’re talking about how long can this team do it,” he said.
“And that’s been the interesting thing. It’s been tough to make sure that we keep on winning but also blooding some young guys. But we’ve never put out a young team there.”
There is evidence of that transition in the side selected for Italy. While Kriel and De Allende remain together in midfield, Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu start at half-back, Ethan Hooker features in the back three, and Cameron Hanekom is among the replacements.
South Africa also have plenty riding on the coming weeks. They lead the Southern Hemisphere Nations Championship standings on points difference ahead of New Zealand, with trips to France and Ireland following the Italy fixture.
Erasmus’s approach is to manage that evolution without treating age alone as a reason to move on from players who are still earning their places.
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