The suspension of Jasper Wiese and injury to Siya Kolisi have seen Jean-Luc du Preez brought in from the cold once more.
One could argue that from having certainty at the back of the scrum the Springboks’ choices are now in a looping figure-of-eight configuration.
Du Preez will run out for just the fourth time in the starting line-up when the Boks face a resurgent Wallabies in Cape Town on Saturday.
The 31-year-old has earned 14 caps since making his debut as a substitute against Wales in 2016, 11 off the bench. Of his three starts, two were on the flank — the most recent against England in 2018. His only start at No 8 came in the 35-12 victory over France at Ellis Park in 2017, predating the Erasmus era.
Du Preez’s most recent Test appearance for the Boks was against Argentina on the eve of the Rugby World Cup.
Clearly he is a player in the Boks’ outer orbit, but Erasmus has thrown him a life line.
“I think everyone … has asked me in the past when JL [Jean-Luc] is going to get a proper chance, so it is his chance now and hopefully it goes well,” Erasmus said.
Du Preez featured for the Boks in their clash against the Barbarians in Cape Town in June, delivering an energetic, gainline-busting performance before he was withdrawn from battle.
Wiese’s suspension — the result of a headbutt in the second Test against Italy — has thrown some of the coach’s planning into disarray.
Before the Test against Georgia, Kolisi seemed lukewarm at best at the prospect of donning the Bok No 8 jersey further down the line. He had played in that position for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship but felt there were better qualified practitioners.
His early departure in last weekend’s 38-22 defeat at Ellis Park hardly helped the Bok cause.
“I don’t think the No 8 position lost us the game, so we are not going to bring in somebody new,” said Erasmus.
“We believe the guys we have are doing the job for us and it is difficult to keep the squad that big,” added the coach, who also had the option of giving Cobus Wiese another start in that position. The regular lock filled the No 8 jersey against Georgia in Mbombela in July to mixed reviews.
Elsewhere in the back row, more change was necessitated by the concussion to Pieter-Steph du Toit. On Saturday the always-willing Franco Mostert will fill the No 7 jersey for the 12th time in his Test career. Capped 80 times for the Boks, Mostert doesn’t just bring vast experience but an exemplary work rate and buoyancy in the line-out. The latter was a facet of the Boks’ play that hardly got off the ground at Ellis Park.
“We’ve got a few options at No 7 but he has done it many times for us and he is probably one of the fittest guys in the team,” Erasmus said of Mostert.
“He is close to what we have in Pieter-Steph and he knows what we want to do. We all know what we did wrong last weekend. To know what you did wrong is easy, but to fix it is not always easy.
“We feel a guy such as Sous [Mostert] will help us in the line-outs and in general. When the game gets a bit loose, he can help us tidy it up.”
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