Rassie could pull another bench trick out of the hat for the second All Blacks test

With Saturday's big Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium in mind, it's time to revisit one of Erasmus' famous party tricks: the 7:1 bench split.

When Rassie Erasmus announces his Springbok team on Thursday morning – after a switch to the usual Tuesday slot – there are sure to be surprises.

The Bok boss has not been afraid to vary his 23 matchdays from week to week and that has given the whole squad confidence and the belief that they are good enough to not only play Test rugby but also fight for a regular place in the team.

Who would have thought that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu would start a number of games this year as a link-up ahead of Handré Pollard and Manie Libbok, when he was not even a regular in the Stormers team?

The same can be said of Bulls powerhouse Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who barely played in the United Rugby Championship (URC) – where he mainly played as a hooker for the Pretoria-based team – but is now in the starting line-up as a loosehead prop for the world champions.

Sharks speedster Aphelele Fassi has worked hard on his game at the franchise level and has been rewarded with playing time for Bok this year – and we can continue like this.

But with Saturday's big Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium in mind, it's time to revisit one of Erasmus' famous party tricks: the 7:1 bench split.

The last time the South Africans had seven strikers on the bench was in last year's Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in Paris.

On the day, the Boks had Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane, Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese as substitutes, while Willie le Roux covered the entire defence.

The scores were 5-3 against Wales at the start of the year, 6-2 in both Irish Tests, 5-3 against Portugal, 6-2 and 5-3 against the Wallabies in Australia and 6-2 in the 31-27 victory over New Zealand at Ellis Park last week.

So why go back to the 7-1 split this weekend? Well, firstly, the All Blacks are feeling the pressure from a brutal clash at Ellis Park.

Assistant coach Jason Ryan was quite open this week about the physical strain that last Saturday put on the players. He spoke of the physicality and the “tackling of enormous intensity, much more intense than we have seen all year so far.”

Considering that the All Blacks lost to an angry Argentina in Wellington a few weeks ago, this statement is quite telling.

When asked by the Independent Newspapers if the Kiwis might make a few changes this week to freshen up the team, Ryan hinted that this was a possibility: “It's about the balance between consistency in the team and the lineups, but also being brave and giving the guys a chance so they can actually experience that intensity because mentally and physically it's a much bigger competition.”

The Bok reserves salvaged the Test at Ellis Park by increasing physicality and tempo in the second half, with Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, ​​​​Eben Etzebeth, Elrigh Louw and Kwagga Smith putting in the effort.

Now imagine how the All Blacks would feel if they had an extra striker in action this weekend?

The high number of injuries at the lock position, which led to star flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit having to switch between positions 4, 5 and 7 at Ellis Park, can also be helped by having an additional special lock on the bench in the form of the recovered Salmaan Moerat.

Bok scrum coach Daan Human said Steven Kitshoff is also being considered for some game time on Saturday, so if he is in the starting XI, either Nche, Steenkamp or Jan-Hendrik Wessels could be the reserve loosehead prop, while Thomas du Toit needs time on the field and can play on either side of the front row.

The experienced Willie le Roux can cover most positions in the back row, while Cheslin Kolbe has already been deployed as a scrum half.

Possible Springboks starting eleven: 15 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (Capt)/Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff; Substitute: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Elrigh Louw, 23 Willie le Roux