‘Loves being that grub’: How Wallabies will counter Springboks’ mad scientist Rassie Erasmus in Rugby Championship opener

Erasmus threw an early curveball when he named his starting side on Monday – earlier than he usually does, and a full three days before he actually has to.

That team included a selection shock with two-time World Cup winning captain Siya Kolisi named at No.8 for the first time in his Test match career.

A master of mental manipulation, Erasmus said he named the team early to give his players some certainty, before immediately hinting at possible changes to the squad later in the week.

“Why we are announcing the squad on Monday is to get the speculation out of the way, and also for players to know who is playing so that we can focus on training well,” he said.

“If you look at the balance of their squad, they brought a lot of forwards on tour and we might change on Friday and bring RG (Snyman) back in the mix if (Australia) go with a six-two split on the bench.

“If they stay with 5-3, which is pretty much their team, that will be it.”

Clear as mud.

Wallabies forward Tom Hooper said the early team naming and Kolisi’s positional switch from blindside to No.8 created some discussion in camp.

“It’s good, there’s not much flowing on the Instagram over here because of the time difference, but it was good to get it a bit of conjecture, share it around with the team and get the boys talking,” he said before training in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

An innovator and a risk-taker, Erasmus has been at his creative and controversial best already in 2025.

Last month he directed fly-half Manie Libbock to deliberately concede a scrum from the opening kick-off of their second Test against Italy. The move forced World Rugby to weigh-in, with confirmation the trick-play should have resulted in a penalty to Italy.

Later in the same game, the Boks twice passed to a player who had been lifted into the air in open play before setting up a maul.

Erasmus has promised to shelve the trick plays for now, but the naming of his team so early in the week is another clear power play.

By the weekend though, the Wallabies will have their own alpha in the form of rampaging second-rower Skelton.

The 203cm tall 33-year-old made an immediate and telling impact in the second and third Tests against the British and Irish Lions, bringing much-needed mongrel to the pack after a disappointing first Test defeat.

His aggressive approach will again be key against a grizzled Boks pack featuring Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who all played in the 2023 World Cup final.

“He’d be up for that challenge, and anyone picked in that jersey will follow him into battle,” Hooper said of Skelton. “He’s an enforcer and he’s been doing that for a long time now.

“For want of a better word, he loves being that grub.

“He loves taking it to teams physically, and he loves making the gentleman’s game a bit more exciting.

“He’s a physical presence. I’ve never felt so small as when I go at the end of the game and give him a hug. I feel like a little kid again.”

Meanwhile fiery half back White might weigh 50-odd kilos less than Skelton, but he more than makes up for it with his on field aggro.

He was at his niggly best in the Wallabies’ third Test win over the Lions, and was called up to travel to South Africa after Jake Gordon was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

White’s strong kicking game could prove vital in the thin air of Johannesburg if he is selected, and the 35-year-old’s mongrel is something the rest of the Wallabies want to adopt.

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“You’ve got the Great Dane Will Skelton and then you’ve got the little Jack Russell (White) and sometimes the little Jack Russell is a bit more fiery,” Hooper said.

“He’s biting at the heels of those boys, and he never takes a backwards step.

“That’s the kind of spirit we want to take going forward.”