Joel Stransky has applauded the way Rassie Erasmus has blooded youngsters in the Springbok setup while keeping together a core of his World Cup winners.
Stransky was speaking ahead of the Rugby Championship opener between the Springboks and Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Elrigh Louw will make their first starts for the Boks at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium. The duo has been carefully exposed to the Bok system since 2022, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu making his Test debut against Wales at Twickenham in June.
The two youngsters will be surrounded by experience on Saturday, with 13 World Cup winners in the starting lineup alone.
“There is confidence. Rassie has proven himself to be this genius coach… for the best part, he’s done sensationally well,” Stransky said on SENZ’s Scotty & Izzy.
“What he’s done so well is the age in the team, the number of caps. He’s nurtured players, he’s brought in the young guys, bred them for six months, eight months, 18 months.
“We’ve seen the likes of Damian Willemse come through, from a young player who sat on the bench, was in the squad, into the starting role at fullback.
“I think what (Erasmus) does well, so well, is he understands what game he wants to play, what type of player he needs, how they need to be bred into the system, and he has a plan… I think he has a plan that’s five, six years in advance.
“He’s always got one eye just looking ahead to what’s next, what’s over the horizon (and) how do we prepare for that?
“To see a guy like Elrigh Louw coming into the system 18 months ago, now he’s starting. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, now starting even as a young guy. It’s wonderful, it’s really wonderful.
“A couple of these young guys have come through and really proven themselves.”
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
