Like a seasoned alchemist tinkering with volatile elements in search of the perfect blend, Rassie Erasmus has spent the July Test window stirring his Springbok cauldron with unrelenting curiosity.
But as the final whistle echoed through Mbombela Stadium on Saturday—where the Boks flattened Georgia in a nine-try stampede, 55-10—the time for unbridled experimentation appears to be drawing to a close.
The Springboks, clad in their traditional green and gold but spliced with splashes of youthful ambition, racked up their second consecutive demolition job—this time against a gritty, grappling Georgian side who tried to drag the match into the mud.
But Erasmus, rugby’s great tactician-turned-mad-scientist, has hinted the days of test-tube tinkering are nearly over as South Africa sets its sights on the Rugby Championship.
“We’re fairly happy if you look over the four games,” Erasmus reflected post-match, his tone a cocktail of pragmatism and pride. “We scored close to 50 points in each match and apart from the first Italy test defended pretty well.”
Indeed, the scoreboard sparkled like a polished trophy cabinet, but Erasmus—ever the perfectionist—was quick to temper euphoria with a coach’s cold realism.
“Georgia were physical and disruptive but that’s not an excuse for us making so many errors,” he said, acknowledging the greasy-fingered handling and breakdown bloopers that marred phases of the Bok attack.
“But I guess we must understand that if we chop and change teams like we have as we’re building squad depth, you’ll lose rhythm.”
And rotate he did. Across the four-match July series—which included a glorified sparring session against the Barbarians—the Bok brain trust shuffled the deck with a dealer’s flair. Ten changes one week, fifteen the next, and a head-spinning sixteen for the Georgia match, leaving the team chemistry about as settled as a scrum on roller skates.
“We found that again in the last 20 minutes and we can be fairly happy with the scoreline although one can always do better,” Erasmus said, his words a reminder that even a dominant win can still carry the scent of unfinished business.
Yet even as the Springboks danced across the tryline with the glee of schoolboys on a playground—22 times in three matches to be precise—there was a clear sense that Erasmus was using July as a rugby laboratory, mixing youth and experience like yeast and malt, hoping for something to rise in time for sterner tests.
Now, with the July curtain drawn, the stage lights shift to the Rugby Championship, and Erasmus is done rummaging through the props department.
“We’ll name 36 guys on Tuesday for the Australia series,” he said with the assurance of a man narrowing his focus.
“Within that squad there’ll be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play.”
Gone is the whirling carousel of wholesale changes. In its place: a chiselled squad of seasoned bruisers and sharp-eyed backs ready to take on the southern hemisphere’s toughest assignment.
Still, Erasmus is not one to shut the door on youth entirely. With a father’s pride and a selector’s conviction, he name-checked a few fresh faces still knocking on the door.
“The nice thing is that we’ve got a group of 48 players or so that we’ve used this year and there’s quite a couple that we’d also like to give opportunities to like Jaden (Hendrikse), Jordan (Hendrikse), Quan Horn, Renzo (du Plessis).”
That blend of present steel and future promise is the hallmark of Erasmus’ tenure—rugby’s equivalent of building a war machine while simultaneously sharpening the swords of tomorrow’s soldiers.
There were some bruises along the way, too. Starting flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a torrid afternoon from the tee, slotting just one of five conversions. Erasmus, however, revealed there was more to the story than wayward radar.
“He suffered a hip pointer injury in the warm-up,” Erasmus said.
“We weren’t quite sure if we should push him through the game, but he wanted to play. But that’s not an excuse for the way he kicked at poles.”
“He ran it out and we like guys that try things and not just play safe,” Erasmus added, giving the youngster a vote of confidence.
“And he’s certainly not one of the guys that made the most errors.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s off-day will no doubt be noted in pencil, not pen. After all, even the finest kickers have watched the ball slice sideways in the highveld air.
With three weeks to go until the Boks return to their Ellis Park fortress to face Australia, the mood in camp will now shift from trial to execution, from exploring options to enforcing structure.
Erasmus, ever the strategist, knows the Rugby Championship is no place for half-baked ideas or unsettled lineups. It’s the crucible in which teams are either forged or fractured.
And so, the Bok machine—well-oiled through July’s wild ride—now thunders toward the real test, ready to unleash a more familiar and ferocious identity.
The experiments are over. The battle plans are drawn. Let the Rugby Championship begin.
