Rassie’s vindication: so many pluses for Boks to bring back from Wellington

The Springboks have returned home with a win-for-the-ages, but there are other major pluses from their record-breaking 43-10 win over the All Blacks in Wellington that go beyond just the milestones they set on a heady day in the New Zealand capital.

The most important positive will be that coach Rassie Erasmus now knows he is on the right track heading towards the 2027 World Cup and the hunt for an unprecedented hat-trick of titles. Not only in terms of the new, more expansive gameplan but also when it comes to personnel.

Erasmus could have been accused of panicking after the Eden Park disappointment as he slashed a third of the caps for Wellington, 261 from the backline, leaving the Springboks with the least-experienced team they have fielded since the Test against Georgia in July.

But the fact that a team with just 173 caps in the backline, and only 626 overall, could so convincingly beat the All Blacks at home, putting them back in the Rugby Championship hunt, gives him an enormous array of options for the rest of the year.

For the two Tests against Argentina that could decide whether they defend their southern hemisphere title, the coach can mix-and-match and almost field two fresh XVs. Even more opportunities can then be given to newer internationals on the end-of-year tour to Europe, and then next year Erasmus can start sifting his best XV from the backup players.

And through all that, the new attacking emphasis attack coach Tony Brown has brought can be further bedded in. The second half in Wellington being evidence of a breakthrough in the implementation of that and confirmation that South Africa does have the players to be more ambitious on attack.

Damian Willemse has rightly received enormous praise for his man-of-the-match effort. Starting for the first time since the opening Test of the year against Italy, the 27-year-old was magnificent. He slotted in seamlessly at inside centre, but was arguably even more effective when he moved to fullback after Aphelele Fassi's injury.

Pulling the strings on attack as a second playmaker alongside Stormers teammate Manie Libbok, Willemse showed sublime skills and use of space, whether it was with his hands or boots. Between Willemse, Libbok and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, South Africa's game management was excellent.

But they were not the only stars in the backline. Wing Ethan Hooker excelled in his first start, running the ball back powerfully, defending strongly and being brilliant in the air, where fellow wing Cheslin Kolbe was again peerless before going off after just 46 minutes.

André Esterhuizen replaced Willemse at inside centre and was outstanding in probably his best performance in a Springbok jersey. As physical as ever, he showed how much his skills have improved, showing acute numeracy when it came to the summing up of numbers in defence and where space was.

Before the last World Cup, Erasmus spoke of his desire to have three players in every position. At inside centre, Esterhuizen and Willemse are now putting pressure on stalwart Damian de Allende; Willemse will hopefully again be at fullback against Argentina, where Fassi and Willie le Roux are also in the bigger picture.

Hooker adds to the plentiful riches at wing, and it will be interesting to see if Erasmus combines his physical attributes with the dazzling abilities of the smaller wings, Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe.

Libbok found the right balance in his game at Wellington, and perhaps the only negative was that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu could only play 18 minutes at flyhalf before being concussed. Handré Pollard remains in the frame, but are his days of starting done?

He will no doubt remain in the World Cup squad as a fail-safe and teacher, but the way the decisionmakers adapted in the second half shows they are quick learners. In the first half, it all seemed a bit frenetic and frantic, all energy and no composure as basic errors saw six great try-scoring opportunities wasted. And then the discipline started to go.

The first half had mostly featured an offload game and trying to quickly get the ball wide, but the All Blacks got between the Springboks and cluttered the wide channels. After the break, Erasmus had his charges kicking more, their aerial prowess allowing them to attack from unstructured play, and they were a bit more direct in carrying the ball strongly up the middle.

The return of a huge ball-carrier like Jasper Wiese at eighthman tips the gainline battle South Africa's way, while RG Snyman showed he is more than just an offload king and can start as a No 4 lock, allowing Erasmus to manage Eben Etzebeth's playing time. The scrum was once again thoroughly dominant, and the line-out much more secure, even stealing crucial ball off the All Blacks in the second half.