Saili or Taute? Nearly decision time for Rassie.

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Rassie Erasmus is going to have a tough decision at the end of this season between having an All Black or a Springbok centre next year.

While many Munster fans were distraught at the end of last season, with the news that the new All Black wonder boy Francis Saili would be out for the first four months of this season’s Pro 12 and the first two rounds of the Champions Cup; no-one could ever imagine how fond we would be of his emergency replacement, Jaco Taute.

Both Taute and Saili have five tries while Taute has only played 12 games and Saili has played 26. Saili is tried and tested as he played all 80 minutes of last season’s 22 games, bar one in which he played 70 after receiving a yellow card. He had the most amount of play time last year out of any Munster player. This stat must prove he is doing something right off the pitch during training, as many supporters believe he didn’t amaze anyone last year. Anyone who had doubts about him last year were quietened on Saturday as Francis scored a beautiful try to seal the victory over Glasgow while also sealing a place in the European quarter-finals for Munster.

Taute has impressed this year, scoring often and being a pillar in defence. His debut try was against old rivals Leinster, what isn’t there to love about someone who can do that on their second game. Consistency is his key to success, constantly making yards or constantly pushing the opposition back in defence.

With the introduction of competition for both the 10 and 13 jersey, as well as the flanker spots, Munster is really excelling with 14 wins and three losses across all competitions this season. The fight happening for the 13 jersey is immense as one player is constantly trying to out do the other. If Taute starts and has a good performance, Saili will come on and inject some pace into the game knowing he only has around 20/30 minutes left to impress. This has led to Munster not dying out in the last 20 minutes like seasons gone past, but actually improving their performance in the final quarter.

This ongoing war for a spot in the Munster 15 is what supporters are hoping will take them to European and Guinness Pro 12 victory this year.

Erasmus embraces the competition but he will be making some tough decisions come June and July.