Springboks' Aphelele Fassi prepared to take on kicking duties if Manie Libbok's radar is off

Springbok fullback Aphelele Fassi knew he would be part of the goal-kicking strategy for Saturday’s Rugby Championship match against Australia when he was told last week to pack his kicking tee in his luggage.

While starting fly-half Manie Libbok is enjoying one of his better goal-kicking streaks, his radar has been known to go haywire. Coach Rassie Erasmus is famous for his meticulous planning, and he has covered all eventualities by having Fassi in goal-kicking mode — just in case.

The Boks don’t have Handré Pollard or Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu on the bench, so the backup kicking duties will fall to Fassi or, possibly, Damian Willemse. The latter, who is on the bench, is also known to be somewhat inconsistent with the boot.

At Monday’s team announcement press conference, Erasmus confirmed that Fassi will take over the kicking if Libbok struggles.

Fassi has kicked before for the Springboks and is confident he can step up if required.

“I’ve been practising my kicking a lot, even before I joined the Boks this season. Tony Brown said last week I must bring my tee to training because I’ll be practising kicking — and I have been doing that. I’m confident with the way things are going,” Fassi said.

“So, when coach Rassie told me I’ll also be a kicking option, it was just a matter of putting my head down and continuing to put in the work.”

Reports from Australia suggest that Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is set to recall veteran James O’Connor at fly-half in place of Ben Donaldson. O’Connor last played for Australia in 2022 and was on standby for the recent Lions series, but was not called up.

Fassi said O’Connor’s potential return wouldn’t change the Springboks’ approach.

“It won’t change the way we want to play if they select him because we know what we want to do on the field.

“He’s a good player with a strong skill set, and he’s played against us before — so for us, it’s all about doing things the Springbok way.

“For them, he brings experience, and he would be good for them with that old head.”

Ellis Park is renowned for being a fast, dry surface, and the backline that Erasmus has selected suggests he wants to run the Aussies off their feet. Libbok and Grant Williams form a livewire half-back pairing, while the back three of Fassi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Edwill van der Merwe is lethal.

“It will be a physical game, but potentially also a very exciting one, given the backs they have — and our back three. They’ll play an expansive game; they’ll run the ball.

“But we have our plan. We know what we need to do, no matter what they throw at us. We need to play our brand of rugby.”

Fassi is one of the most dangerous counter-attackers in the game, but he says the Boks will create attacking opportunities even if the ball isn’t kicked to them.

“Rugby is not only about counter-attacking. When we have the ball, we’ll be doing what we want to do.

“Each game is different, and (attack coach) Tony gives the back three the freedom to play what’s in front of them while being mindful of the situation. We come with variety each week. What I like is the freedom to make decisions.”