Rassie reveals Boks' set-piece innovation was straight out of schoolboy rugby

South Africa hammered the Azzurri 45-0 on Saturday which secured a 2-0 series victory, with much of the discussion afterwards about the hosts' innovative tactics.

One of their successful ploys saw them set up a maul in phase play by getting the scrum-half to throw the ball to a player being lifted into the air by his team-mates.

It resembled a lineout in open field and enabled the Boks to gain a stable platform to use one of their most lethal weapons.

They managed to create enough havoc to touch down twice from it and Erasmus revealed that their idea came from an unlikely source.

"We noticed it with Paul Roos U14s," he said. "You just get all the benefits from what you get in the lineout you actually get if you support in general play."

Erasmus was not sure whether it might become a regular feature of their game, however, suggesting that teams will now try and find ways to stop it.

"It worked for us, but obviously now people will be alert for that. I think we won't be able to do it for a few games," he added.

That maul set-up was not the only unique move the Springboks decided to try, as straight from the kick-off, they were purposefully caught offside with the ball not going 10 metres.

Although it resulted in an Italy scrum on halfway, the Boks dominated that area last week and were confident of winning a penalty.

However, that tactic did not yield any success, with the visitors being awarded a free-kick following an infringement from the hosts.

"We make a lot of little plans that sometimes don't pay off, that people don't know of. Sometimes people just see the things that do work, and this time it backfired against us," South Africa's head coach added.

"We had a plan, but then we had the free-kick against us. It was a good plan in theory, but a bad plan from a practical point of view."

Whether we'll see that tactic again is also up for debate, as retired referee Nigel Owens believes the Boks should have been penalised for a deliberate offense.

Erasmus has an excellent understanding of the lawbook, however, and may once again force World Rugby to clarify the rules as he continues to find new ways to exploit potential loopholes in the game.