Coaches who follow Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus in making last-minute tactical changes to their line-ups have been warned they risk being hit with heavy punishments from World Rugby for doing so.
Protocols are in place across the biggest competitions in rugby to prevent coaches from tinkering with their starting sides for tactical reasons. The Six Nations, Nations Championship and Rugby World Cup all have rules stating that teams must be announced 48 hours before matches take place and can only be changed in the event of an injury.
Erasmus's late alterations
However, there was nothing stopping Erasmus from making some late alterations to his South Africa side ahead of their second Test clash with New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday. Having announced his squad early in the week, the Springboks boss initially named a starting side comprised of 16 players, with both Siya Kolisi and Paul de Villiers selected at blindside as he waited on an update on the former's fitness. It was later that Kolisi was fit to start and lead out the side against the All Blacks.
On Friday, meanwhile, Erasmus brought in fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for Handré Pollard, who he said had suffered a calf injury ahead of the second Test. Cheslin Kolbe was also announced as a replacement for Kurt-Lee Arendse, but this appeared to be a tactical replacement rather than one enforced by injury.
Then, just ahead of kick-off in Cape Town, the entire Springboks front row was changed, with Erasmus starting Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit ahead of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw due to a change in the weather forecast.
Potential sanctions
Now, as The Times reports, Erasmus and other coaches across the world have been warned that pulling the same trick at major competitions will land them in hot water, with fines and expulsion among the potential punishments. The publication states that World Rugby has the power to impose fines on any coach who makes late changes to their team and therefore breaches the contract agreed between the global governing body and the respective unions.
There are other possible sanctions applicable in the URC, PREM Rugby, as well as the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, with teams required to name their sides publicly by midday on Friday ahead of a weekend fixture, or by Thursday midday if the match is held on a Friday. Late changes are only permitted for medical reasons, for which evidence must be provided to European competition organisers European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), who then have to approve the alterations. If they are not approved, the publicly selected squad must take to the field as planned.
No punishment yet
In the event of team announcement rules being broken, the EPCR possesses the power to disqualify teams from its competitions, while fines and points deductions are among the other potential sanctions clubs could face. As it stands, no teams have ever been punished in European competition for making late changes. As a result, no alterations to the current World Rugby regulations are expected, as they are believed to already be a strong enough deterrent - even for coaches like Erasmus.
