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However, had it not been for the intervention of his Springboks team-mate and fellow prop, he would have reached the milestone from the bench.
Malherbe’s class
Erasmus explained that he and his coaching team did not realise that Koch would be earning his 50th Test cap with a selection against Wales and initially named the Sharks tighthead on the bench for the fixture.
Koch is highly regarded as one of the finest tighthead props in the game having starred throughout his Saracens career winning two Premiership and Investec Champions Cup titles with the English club while clinching the Challenge Cup with the Sharks this season.
He has also been a key cog in the Springboks squad since 2018, winning two World Cups, a Rugby Championship title and the British and Irish Lions Series.
Still with Malherbe also in the Bok squad, Koch has featured off the bench more often than not for South Africa, in fact his start against Tonga during the World Cup pool stages was his first since the 2019 World Cup pool stage game against Canada in Japan – a run of 28 caps from the bench.
After missing the World Cup final through injury last year, the clash against Wales was set to be his 50th cap and his fellow tighthead made sure it would not be from the bench.
“We’ve made a mistake twice before,” Erasmus explained.
“We picked Lood de Jager [against Scotland in 2021] and someone told me on the Thursday before the game ‘do know know it is Franco Mostert’s 50th game?’
“It was so nice, I thought ‘oh my, he is going to play off the bench’ and I had a word with Lood and said: ‘I made a mistake, I think Franco should start because it is his 50th game.
Springboks team winners and losers as Rassie Erasmus stuns with picks for Wales showdown
“Lood said that he didn’t mind and when we got into the huddle, Lood told the guys that he had something to say and he told the players, ‘listen it is Franco’s 50th game, Franco you start – I will play from the bench’.”
Erasmus added with a smile: “So Lood announced it.
“This week, the same happened, we announced the team with Frans as the starting tighthead and five minutes later one of the players came to me and said it was Vincent’s 50th game.
