Springbok overhaul: Rassie Erasmus rolls the dice for must-win Aussie showdown

The Springboks’ Rugby Championship campaign could be over before it barely started if they fall to the Wallabies for a second weekend in a row.

For that reason, head coach Rassie Erasmus decided to ring the changes and select his most experienced available side for the "deciding" match against the Australians in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon (5.10pm kick-off).

Erasmus made 10 changes to the starting side that lost 38-22 at Ellis Park, bringing back several double World Cup winners to steady the ship as they anticipate a graft against the high-flying Aussies.

Centurion Willie le Roux is back at fullback, while Handré Pollard will provide steadiness at flyhalf. At the same time, Damian de Allende retakes his midfield partnership with captain Jesse Kriel and Cheslin Kolbe slots in on the wing.

That is a significant boost in experience for the backline, and their game management will be under heavy scrutiny after the faltering in Johannesburg. Up-front, there is a new lock combination in RG Snyman and Ruan Nortjé, behind experienced front -owers. V

eterans Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager are set to make an impact as part of the Bomb Squad replacement bench behind the more inexperienced front rankers like hooker Marnus van der Merwe and Boan Venter.

Some of the changes were forced due to injuries to regular captain Siya Kolisi, fellow loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit and wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe. Franco Mostert will step in for Du Toit, and Jean-Luc du Preez starts as No 8.

“We know what we did wrong last weekend, but it’s easy knowing that. The difficult part will be to fix it,” Erasmus said, ahead of the Test.

“If we had all the answers to why things went wrong, it would be fantastic. It’s been a while since we lost, and the game ran away from us in seven minutes.

"It is not a lekker feeling when it happens. However, going through the first session on Monday, the answers started coming.

“When we did the attack today (Tuesday), more (answers) started coming.

"Why we did it?

"We were 22 points up and thought this was it, and then you get a shock and two or three concussions. That (the injuries) is not an excuse; it’s on us. We lost Siya, Marco, Pieter-Steph and Edwill, and everything compounded.

“Then, all of a sudden, we are 14 points down, and they put the hammer down. As we went through the sessions, the answers came. Things came too easily at Ellis Park, and when it got bad, we could not handle it.”

Erasmus says they hope it will be all smiles on Saturday evening with the experienced guys returning; however, they know it will take hard work to get back to winning ways.

He added that having the likes of Kolbe, De Allende, Pollard, Le Roux, and Mostert back will provide some much-needed confidence to the side. But the only thing that matters will be getting their campaign back on track.

“Hopefully, it is all smiles on Saturday evening. I am one of the regular guys. When we win, I check social media, but when we lose, I don’t. But then my mom sends a message saying, ‘my son, I still love you, but don’t read what the people are saying’.

"It’s not nice when we are losing.

“This smile I have is sort of an embarrassed one. It’s tough, and we want to get things right. We wish we could’ve played on Wednesday already.

“We had those mini targets that bind the team together, where we wanted to beat them five times in a row. They had theirs to beat us for the first time in a long time at Ellis Park. They achieved theirs and we must now turn things around.”

Springboks matchday 23 v Australia for Cape Town

Starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu