‘It’s Fassi’s time to shine,’ says Erasmus about Bok fullback

The selections of Aphelele Fassi and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fullback and flyhalf respectively to face the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday, indicates a bright future for the Springboks.

With it being such an important match, in terms of the competition and the growth of the team, coach Rassie Erasmus could have been tempted to play his most experienced and settled team, which would have included Willie le Roux and Handre Pollard.

However, he has shown that he fully believes in Fassi and Feinberg-Mngomezulu by backing them to start against the Boks’ biggest rivals, with Le Roux missing out on selection and Pollard playing off the bench on Saturday.

Speaking about Fassi, Erasmus said that it was now time to show exactly what he is capable of and reach the level expected of him.

“We are all waiting for Aphelele to do it now. That’s what we’ve told him the whole of last week, ‘do it now, it’s on you. Go and show the people what you can do and why you’re here’,” said Erasmus at Tuesday’s team announcement.

“Unfortunately with everything, there’s first the real hard graft in a game, before you get to do the beautiful things. So he’s needed to get his technique under the high ball right, not lifting that leg … he’s got that out of his system, understanding the wings, organising, he’s getting the ropes with that.

“Now I think it’s his time to shine. It’s not easy to shine against New Zealand. But that certainly is where you find out, ‘am I ready yet or not?’”

Le Roux surprise

Le Roux was a surprise omission for the game, as he would have been expected to start, like he did in the two Tests against Ireland last month, but Erasmus explained that he has a different role in the team now.

“He’s at a time in his career where he accepts what his role is in the team. He helps the guys to understand how big the Test match is, and he and Aphelele are close,” said Erasmus.

“We want to get him to his 100th game. He’s at 96 now. I think he will play another two years. I don’t think he will make another World Cup. His role in the team now is to help youngsters and when he plays to help us win.”

On Fienberg-Mngomezulu, Erasmus was asked if he had been tempted to shield the young flyhalf from such a big game and bring Pollard back into the starting mix, but the coach said that the rising star had earned his shot at the big time.

“Sacha built his way to this moment. He was marked by us when he was still in school and has progressed through the age groups, he played SA Schools, captained the Junior Boks, played for the SA A team and trained with the Springboks,” said Erasmus.

“And he will now earn his seventh cap. He has built up from playing Wales, Ireland, Portugal, Australia and to not back him now at the highest level would be stupid. So we want him to play and if he makes some mistakes he will learn from that and get better.”