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All Blacks need to follow "insanely clever" Erasmus' lead by empowering bench
Scotty Stevenson • September 5th, 2024 9:56 am
This weekend, we're heading into a Cape Town assignment for the All Blacks with the Freedom Trophy on the line. South Africa got the job done at Ellis Park and now the All Blacks must respond.
Where do they go and what kind of response are we hoping for from this All Blacks side?
Let us not forget that 53 minutes into that Test match, the All Blacks were in the ascendancy by some distance. And when I talk about some distance, a 10-point advantage over the Springboks at Ellis Park should be - nine times out of ten - job done for an All Black side that knows how to close out its games.
One of the biggest issues that Scott Robertson has at the moment is creating a bench that knows when to be in the field, when to get in the game and how to finish the job. We have seen glimpses, but we've often seen glimpses from the most experienced players in the team. Understanding how the game is unfolding, understanding the context of the game, getting on there when the All Blacks are in a bit of strife and getting them out of trouble.
It's not the All Black way to get themselves out of trouble in that last 20 minutes, and they weren't in trouble heading into the last 20 minutes of the match, and that is what is so frustrating from an All Black point of view right now.
I don't think you can blame the All Blacks bench for that loss in Johannesburg as much as you can credit the South African bench. Those guys have become closing specialists and they know that is their job in a Test match. They accept it, and they embrace it, and they train for it. If you could come to those decision makers at the end of a game, in the match, in the physical battle, you would take it every time, wouldn't you? They are clinical. They know what they're doing. They understand where the game's at, and they have the requisite skill and power levels to get across the line.
Rassie Erasmus is an unorthodox coach. We know that. He's colourful, he's imaginative, he's innovative. But perhaps what he's been most clever in doing is giving his Test match bench an identity.
On first impressions, the 'bomb squad' is just a catchy phrase, a nickname given to a big and powerful bench. But when you dig deeper into the psychology around that, what has Erasmus said to those eight reserves? He's said to them, 'you have a purpose in this game. You are just as important as the starters'.
The starting XV is the Springboks, it doesn't have a catchy nickname. But the eight players on the bench have been given a personality and a moniker that suggests to them that they are the difference makers in the game. That is an insanely clever piece of man management from Rassie Erasmus.
Meanwhile, back in New Zealand, our attitude towards Test match rugby is always - who's going to start? Who is going to be in jerseys one to 15?
I think we need to change our mindset around Test match rugby, accept that it is a matchday 23, accept that players can have just as much of an impact for 20-30 minutes as players can have for 60 or 80.
That is the turnaround I want to see from this All Blacks side over the next few months and leading into that November tour. Understanding that whether you're picked in Jersey one to 15 or 16 to 23, you have an incredibly specific role to play in the game. If we start to accept that, I think we're going to start to close the gap on some of the teams that are giving the All Blacks trouble right now.
South Africa are ahead of the curve when it comes to how they use their bench right now. We are not going to compete on size because we don't produce 6ft 9in giants on demand like South Africa does. We don't have a player like Kwagga Smith in our midst right now.
What we do have is an All Black jersey, and those who wear it should be just as proud of wearing 22 or 23 as they are wearing nine or 15. I hope that that has been one of the key messages for the All Blacks this week.
Tune into Scotty & Izzy from 6am to 9am weekdays on SENZ.
