Rassie Erasmus unveils radical rethink of the Springbok No.8 jersey

Going back to his days of disco light on the roof of Bloemfontein Stadium, Erasmus has always been an innovator. And even though the Springboks have been cemented at the top of world rugby for the last few years, that hasn't stopped innovation.

We've seen winger Cheslin Kolbe throwing in at lineouts. We've seen centres Damian de Allende and Andre Esterhuizen packing down at flank. We've seen lineouts in the backline. We've seen flankers playing at hooker. Not even a rugby savant could predict what's next.

As such, when it comes to playing eighthman, Erasmus revealed he has reframed his thinking about the position. Broadly speaking, No.8's are beefy humans seeking collisions to create momentum. And the Boks have not moved too far from this tradition with the Kalahari Pain Train that is Jasper Wiese, their premier No.8 at the minute.

But there is a different flavour coming through in Wiese's wake.

"The only place where a player plays No.8 is in the scrum," Erasmus told the press this week.

"In the lineouts it depends if you jump in the lineouts. If you have two tall flanks, you don't need a No.8 who jumps in the lineouts.

"You can let your No.8 stay back from a restart, chase from a restart, you can put him near the front of a lineout or put him in the backline.

"People don't have to agree with me, but in my view the No.8 doesn't have that tag of being the link between the forwards and backs.

"Siya [Kolisi] doesn't play No.6 like a traditional [South African] No.6. At the Boks, No.7 is the tall player who jumps in the lineouts. As long as No.6 and No.8 complement each other, then it suits us.

"I'm not saying everyone should see it that way; that is how we see it."

A versatile player such as Marco van Staden fits this mould. He has been used at hooker, flank and eighthman, adapting to whatever suits the team competition best in that moment of the match. The aforementioned Kolisi - an underrated carrier - has also been used at No.8.

But there are other surprising inclusions. Erasmus revealed that rising star Paul de Villiers has been training at the back of the scrum, as has Esterhuizen.

Should this experiment prove successful come match day, it would give the world champions an incredible amount of flexibility personnel-wise, as well as the ability to field a powerful 7-1 split on the bench with less risk.  

And the list goes on. Bulls flankers Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw are others who could fit the No.8 role in the future. It's early doors for their international careers but have shown plenty of promise when donning the green and gold.

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