Erasmus reveals last-minute weather call forced complete Springbok front-row overhaul against All Blacks

Rassie Erasmus confirmed that a last-minute shift in the weather forecast prompted him to swap his entire Springbok front row less than an hour before kick-off against New Zealand at DHL Stadium in Cape Town, with South Africa ultimately holding on for a 33-26 victory.

The change only became apparent when the final team sheets were distributed at the ground. Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie, and Thomas du Toit — originally named on the bench — moved into the starting XV, while Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, and Wilco Louw dropped from the starting trio to the replacements.

“We thought it was going to be wet, and that’s why we picked that front row,” Erasmus explained after the match. “The whole week, the prediction was it was going to be wet, and we thought then we’ll need our heavier front row for the first half of the game. We were always going to use two front rows. But then, closer to the game, the weather report said it’s going to be dry, and then we felt our front row that’s a little bit lighter would be better on the dry field.”

The All Blacks said the changes had no bearing on their own preparations. Erasmus, meanwhile, was candid about the substitution timing once the game was under way. Marx and Nche came on for Fourie and Steenekamp after 35 minutes, with Louw replacing Du Toit at the 56-minute mark.

“Deon Fourie, he’s 39 years old, he’s played 65 minutes against the All Blacks in six weeks, so he was going to get tired,” Erasmus said. “And you could see he missed the tackle when they scored a try. He did wonderfully; I thought he brought so much to the team.”

The coach also outlined the managed return of Nche, who had played only eight minutes before the previous Test and 45 minutes last week. “This game we wanted him, because he didn’t start, to get to 55 minutes. But that’s not decided before, because if the guys stay productive on the field and they keep doing their job, then we pull it back at a moment where they’re not productive and helping anymore.”

The front-row reshuffle was not the only disruption to South Africa’s team sheet during the week. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was called into the No.10 jersey after Handré Pollard picked up an injury, Siya Kolisi was declared fit at the expense of Paul de Villiers, and Cheslin Kolbe replaced Kurt-Lee Arendse after being cleared by the Springboks’ medical staff.

Erasmus acknowledged that Kolbe’s inclusion had caused unnecessary confusion. “He wasn’t a late change. On Monday, obviously we announced the team, and I said Cheslin is looking really good, and our policy has always been that if you can train fully on a Monday then you can play, but we weren’t sure about that. Maybe I should have slashed him in the team announcement, and that would’ve gone down better.”