Eddie Jones has revealed the key challenge facing Rassie Erasmus and how his latest selection proves the Bok boss is a master at it.

Erasmus utilised 46 players across South Africa’s four July matches, rotating heavily as he continued to build depth that is the envy of the rugby world.

Yet, writing in his Planet Rugby column, Jones says the Bok boss’ greatest challenge is not amassing talent, but making the right calls in “deeply detailed situational selection” for specific opponents.

“There’s a lot of noise now that South Africa have five potential Test-quality teams … but that’s a smokescreen,” the Japan head coach wrote. “In simple terms, you can only play 15 players and eight replacements, so the argument is academic.

“In the context of Erasmus, it means selection is the key challenge – and he is an outstanding selector.”

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Jones pointed to the loose trio picked for Saturday’s Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies at Ellis Park as a prime example of how Erasmus tailors his teams.

“Marco van Staden is the hardest player on or over the ball that the Springboks have, and against the Wallabies, who dominated over the ball in the third Test against the Lions, he’s picked an asset for a specific scenario,” said Jones.

“Then, by moving Siya Kolisi to eight, he has two men that are predominantly opensides supporting each other in a focused task of winning that over-the-ball battle, key in Joburg where ruck speed and ball speed is so fast due to the conditions.

“Rassie has spotted it, prepared for it and mitigated that threat through intelligent and focused use of his deep squad.”

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Jones described Erasmus as “a quite brilliant and super detailed coach” who “fully understands the DNA of Springbok rugby” but tweaks the “options on the fringes to move their game to new heights”.

He likened him to “a guy that always buys a Mercedes every year … never straying from the core brand, but always looking to find new competitive advantages.”

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