World Rugby urged to punish Rassie Erasmus for late Springbok team changes

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus is facing fresh scrutiny after making three late changes to South Africa’s starting line-up for Friday’s clash against France.

The changes, announced just an hour before kick-off on Friday, 13 November, involved the entire Springbok front row and have prompted calls for World Rugby to clarify its regulations.

According to Wales Online, some supporters and pundits have questioned whether the changes went against the spirit of the game, with suggestions that South Africa should face disciplinary action if the substitutions breached the rules.

Ultimately, the late changes didn’t help as the Springboks lost 21-19, their first defeat in Paris in 21 years.

RASSIE Erasmus changes entire Springbok front row

South Africa had initially on Monday named Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw as the starting front row for the match at the Stade de France.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit were named among the replacements.

However, Rassie Erasmus subsequently promoted Wessels, Steenekamp and Du Toit into the starting XV, while Nche, Marx and Louw moved to the bench.

As per a SA Rugby statement, Erasmus have a vague reason for the swap, saying: “We waited until the captains run on Thursday to decide and even then, we were not sure if we should, but we decided shortly before the game, and it was mainly with testing that combination with the Rugby World Cup next year in mind”.

Erasmus used a similar tactic during South Africa’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against New Zealand, when he also changed the entire front row shortly before kick-off.

At the time, the decision was reportedly influenced by the weather forecast, with the Springboks believing a different combination would be better suited to the conditions.

What do World Rugby’s rules say?

The controversy centres on World Rugby Regulation 15.1.2.

The regulation states that participating unions must announce and exchange their starting XV and up to eight replacements 48 hours before kick-off in an international match.

Major tournaments such as the Rugby World Cup also have strict procedures governing late team changes, with alterations generally restricted to specified circumstances, including genuine medical reasons.

However, questions remain about whether a player named among the replacements can be promoted into the starting XV shortly before kick-off, given that the player is already part of the matchday 23.

World Rugby has the power to impose fines where a coach breaches applicable regulations or agreements governing team announcements.

World Rugby clarification sought

Rassie Erasmus’s latest changes have renewed calls for World Rugby to explain precisely what is permitted under the regulations, particularly in the Nations Championship.

The issue is whether the late promotion of named replacements into the starting XV is allowed and, if so, under what conditions.

World Rugby had yet to issue a specific clarification on the latest incident at the time of publication.

Does Rassie Erasmus’ late changes to line-ups make a mockery of an official team announcement?