Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has copied Springboks counterpart Rassie Erasmus in teasing a potential selection change to his initial 23-man squad. 

The outgoing Schmidt has already been forced into a late change, with Ben Donaldson forced to drop out of the squad through injury and Nick Champion de Crespigny coming onto their new 6:2 bench; however, that could just be a stopgap if Schmidt’s comments are anything to go by.

His comments follow Erasmus’ words on Monday, where he hinted at a possible selection change to bring lock RG Snyman onto the bench in place of a back should the Wallabies opt to deploy a 6:2 split.

‘We’ll make a final decision at our captain’s run’

While Western Force back-rower Champion de Crespigny, who made his Test debut in the series opener against the British and Irish Lions last month, is currently in the 23-man squad for the clash at Ellis Park, Schmidt detailed the other alternative options available to him ahead of the game on Saturday.

“Our original split was 5:3, but Ben Donaldson pulled out right at the end of training today. He’s currently out of the mix, so we’ve adjusted it to what we think now, but we could adjust again, just because it’s only just happened. We have a lot of faith in Nick Champion de Crespigny; he had a very good game in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions, and he is certainly one option.

“To get our coverage in the back line is another option for us; we’ve got a couple of options there. Carlo Tizzano is another guy who was part of a 6:2 split against the Lions.

“It was literally a 5:3 split on the bench until the second-last play in training today.”

He also offered a definitive deadline as to when he would make that final call on his squad.

“We’ve adjusted there to where we think it is at the moment, but we’ll make a final decision at our captain’s run tomorrow. It wasn’t worth putting Ben into the group because he’s not available now.”

Rassie mind games?

Schmidt’s comments regarding a possible squad change echoed the words of Boks counterpart Erasmus in the week, who initially opted to deploy a 5:3 split, with the Boks boss confirming RG Snyman could crack a spot in the 23 instead.

These comments could also be counted as mind games ahead of the Test, something Erasmus is known to use. Schmidt, however, insists his focus has been solely on his team in the build-up.

I’ve worked with Rassie and coached against him, but I don’t focus too much on that.

“We’ve got a group that we’ve built over the last year or so. This time last year we got a couple of lessons from South Africa, and we like to think we’re building away and are a lot more focused on us.”