Rassie axing surprises Randell
July 16, 2001

Former All Black captain Taine Randell said the omission of Rassie Erasmus from the Springbok squad came as a big surprise to him.

The flank is expected to be a key player for the All Blacks in the first Tri-Nations Test against South Africa on Saturday.

"Yes, it took me by surprise. We in New Zealand have a lot of respect for him. I rate him (Erasmus) highly as loose-forward," Randell told Die Burger.

"We use the combination of Erasmus, Andre Venter and Andre Vos as yardstick in terms of loose-forward play. It is strange that he (Erasmus) is now completely out of the picture."

Commenting on the elevation of Bob Skinstad to the Springbok captaincy, the 26-year-old said it seems to him if the Western Province star was hand picked to take over the captaincy: "He is a young player with a lot of class and it seems to me he is regarded as a safe option for the long term."

The veteran of 40 Tests was cautious to predict a Tri-Nations winner at this early stage, but said the Wallabies are probably the early favourites on the evidence of their series win over the Lions.

"The warm-up games are not necessarily a good indication of what's going to happen in the Tri-Nations. The series is wide open this year. If I have to be completely objective, I'd have to make Australia the favourites by a slight margin though."

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