Why Rassie is backing captain Moerat, young Boks: ‘It’s all about growth’

The Springbok team that will do battle with Australia in Perth on Saturday may be missing several World Cup-winning stars but they will still be in safe hands considering how many experienced captains will be part of the matchday-23.

The Bok starting team shows 10 changes from the side that won 33-7 against the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend, with stalwarts like Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux all rested this week.

The likes of Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth and Handre Pollard, all seasoned campaigners, will warm the bench.

But even though captain for the day Salmaan Moerat will only be playing his ninth Test, and leading the team for the second time, after captaining against the Portugal, the Boks will have plenty of experienced men leading the way.

Leaders in Bok team

Besides Moerat, who has led the Stormers, Lukhanyo Am, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje have led the Sharks, Stormers and Boks and Bulls respectively. Elrigh Louw, too, has led the Bulls in the past, while young Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a former SA U20 captain.

Bok boss Rassie Erasmus isn’t in the least concerned about Moerat leading a new-look Bok team this weekend, in the Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies. In fact, having a young group of leaders and players going out to try and make a statement is exactly how he wants it.

“Eben has been captain, Pieter-Steph has been captain, Siya is our captain … and Bongi is resting this week. Now it’s up to certain guys to take on certain responsibilities on the day,” said Erasmus ahead of the match against Joe Schmidt’s side.

“Jesse (Kriel) is our vice-captain on Saturday. We want guys to grow into certain roles.

“Now Salmaan gets to captain against a tier one nation (after captaining the Boks against Portugal) and this will allow him to grow more as a player. The growth of the team and the players is important to us.

“With some of the guys in the group getting older we need others to come in and help manage the workload, while others will come in and help lead the team.”

‘What is best for SA’

Erasmus says everyone in the Bok squad accepts the need to rotate players to develop the group and grow depth, even if players miss out on match fees and possible win bonuses, with an eye on the future and the World Cup in 2027.

“Honesty is the best way. Last week the young guys helped the seniors and this week the roles are reversed. We have a saying in the group that ‘we all have to eat at the end’.

“We know all the characters by now. The players understand that nothing is done for individuals or for milestones, but for what is best for South Africa, and that makes a big difference.”