Former Springboks boss Nick Mallett has waded into the selection debate that left Rassie Erasmus frustrated heading into the resumption of the Nations Championship this weekend.

South Africa are in Turin preparing for their clash with Italy on Saturday and after announcing his team selection on Monday, the head coach took issue with the negative narrative surrounding his side.

“Everybody loves to beat the drum that the team is getting older,” he said, stressing that the team that will play this weekend has an average of 29. “What has happened is people are not talking about the results as much, but they’re talking about how long this team can do it for, and that’s been the interesting thing.”

It’s an interesting thing that has now piqued the interest of Mallett, who coached the Springboks from 1997 to 2000, an era when Erasmus was one of the players he included in the back row. Mallett referenced this long-ago era on Talking Boks, explaining how team selection is very different under Erasmus compared to what it was like when he was in charge.

“Rassie is always trying to find the dog in the player, the guy who fights the hardest…”

“We must never move away from how selection has changed, the way in which they analyse the games, the way in which they take stats, the battle stats that Rassie is always looking for, trying to find the dog in the player, the guy who fights the hardest, who keeps going,” he began, addressing the criticism that Erasmus’ team is getting too old.

“There is certain criteria that Rassie and his coaches have on every individual player and the professionalism is unbelievable. Honestly, in my day we just all jumped on a plane. Literally, it was just a gut feel that this is the best team. We didn’t have the stats; we didn’t have the intel that these guys have at the moment, so often you could make a mistake.

“But now, the reason why a Paul de Villiers is there. He is not an imposing figure, but his stats are right up there with Kwagga Smith’s and how did Kwagga Smith get there? Because his stats were the best in the world.

“When we are talking about these old guys and whether they make the World Cup, and do you think 36 is old or not, just remember that for Rassie age is completely irrelevant. What matters to Rassie is what the player does on the field. What is his performance on the field?

“Is he matching the best in the world in his position and if he is not, I guarantee you that the young guy is going to take over from the old guy because the moment that you have five or six or seven of those old guys all not hitting their stats, then we’re not going to get the results that we are used to and so we’re going to find players coming through.

“It is going to be the (older) player dropping himself. He is going to be able to be shown the statistics; he is going to be able to be shown the fact that what he was like in 2023 and now in 2027, he just hasn’t got it and so it’s going to be done on a very objective basis.

“When we talk about age, it’s all about performance; it’s not about how old you are. You can get a guy like (Yaqeen) Ahmed who at 20 can perform as well as any fly-half in the northern hemisphere if he is properly connected in the team and understands the way the team wants to play.

“And you can get a guy like Jesse Kriel at 33 in 2027, or Damian de Allende or (Eben) Etzebeth or Siya Kolisi, who is going to be better than anyone else in their position with regard to the stats, to the sort of dog that Rassie is looking for and the leadership aspects the guys bring also.

“You can’t chuck out the experience, the fact that guys have been there and done it. We saw that in the Greatest Rivalry series as well, how the older guys really stood up and played outstandingly well – so let’s not worry about age, let’s just worry about performance.”

Sticking with the development of the younger options available to Erasmus, Mallett dwelt on the selection of Jan-Hendrik Wessels as an out-and-out sub hooker for the first time rather than getting picked as a prop who could cover hooker.

The 25-year-old has 15 Springbok caps to his credit heading into the Italian fixture and while it is a big deal that he has been nominated as the specialist cover behind Malcolm Marx, Mallett is expecting him to thrive in the role.

“Any hooker in the world would love to come onto the field with Wilco Louw there as your tighthead partner. Wilco Louw is comfortably the best tighthead in the world, comfortably the best tighthead in South Africa, which means he is the best tighthead in the world in the scrum.

“In general play one has got a good case to say that Thomas du Toit gets around the field more and is more damaging, but in terms of winning scrum penalties and the power that guy brings to your scrum, Jan-Hendrik Wessels is not going to battle in the scrums when Wilco Louw comes onto his right.

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“And remember, that was the Bulls front row last year. (Gerhard) Steenekamp and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, on occasion when (Johan) Grobbelaar didn’t play, and Wilco Louw were the front row that won lots of penalties last year.

“It was one thing that (Bulls coach Johan) Ackermann was very concerned about: when you lose a player of that impact (to the Stormers), how is this season going to develop because you end up not winning the scrum penalties that you are used to. So, Jan-Hendrik is going to be an outstanding hooker; his general ball play is very good, he is very quick around the park, he makes tackles, carries well.

“He doesn’t start at hooker, but he is going to continue his career now as the replacement hooker. Maybe after 55 minutes or 50 minutes, when hopefully we will be up by 15 points, that’s a really nice way to start your career. He is going to do a great job for us.”