South Africa takes risks with team selections as fans back experimentation

South Africa's coach Rassie Erasmus is embracing risk in team selections, aiming to broaden the player pool for their upcoming World Cup title defense. He believes he has the backing of the fans, a sentiment reinforced after a challenging 42-28 victory over Scotland in the Nations Championship.

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I don’t think the crowd was happy at the end but I think South Africa understands what we tried to do in this game.

Despite the win, South Africa was pushed to its limits, with Scotland leveling at halftime and posing a threat throughout the second half. Erasmus acknowledged the experimental lineup, which featured 10 changes from the previous match against England. He emphasized the importance of using the new competition to identify and develop players who can perform at the international level.

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In the past, I felt if we made four changes, people would ask ‘what are you doing?’ But I feel the interaction between us and the supporters gives us a togetherness, and people know what we are trying to do. That’s something that’s changed over the years.

Erasmus highlighted the shift in fan perception, noting that while past selections might have drawn criticism, the current "togetherness" between the team and supporters allows for greater understanding of his strategic decisions. "I don’t think the crowd was happy at the end but I think South Africa understands what we tried to do in this game," he said. "In the past, I felt if we made four changes, people would ask ‘what are you doing?’ But I feel the interaction between us and the supporters gives us a togetherness, and people know what we are trying to do."

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It’s much nicer when you win and you learn than when you lose and you learn.

The coach stressed that winning while learning is preferable to losing and learning. He pointed out that with 12 players having fewer than 10 caps, cohesion was expected to be an issue, particularly in defense. "We learned a lot about some players – not that they are not good enough but that there’s a lot of work to be done," Erasmus added. He anticipates further lineup changes for their next match against Wales.

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We had 12 guys who each had less than 10 caps – half the team – so we knew cohesion was going to be a problem.