Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus says his side will give the All Blacks all the due respect in their Rugby Championship encounter at Ellis Park on Saturday. Photo: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Never underestimate a wounded beast was the sentiment shared on Tuesday by Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus when the topic of taking on a misfiring All Blacks side in the Rugby Championship emerged.
The sides clash at Ellis Park on Saturday in their third match of the competition, with New Zealand having already tasted defeat at home at the hands of Argentina.
Though the All Blacks responded to their opening loss with an emphatic victory in their second match, the consensus is that it would be a great time for the Springboks to take on the juggernauts of world rugby.
Speaking at the Springbok team announcement, after Erasmus had said that Eben Etzebeth might still feature despite not being named in the matchday 23, the SA mentor advised his troops to approach the clash with caution.
We’ll be stupid if we don’t respect them, warns @Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus ahead of their Rugby Championship clash against the @AllBlacks at Ellis Park on Saturday.
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport) August 27, 2024
Video: @Golfhackno1 @IOL pic.twitter.com/ctRia0T2xB
“We’ll be stupid if we don’t respect them. We’ll be bad coaches, we’ll be stupid players. We’ll be an arrogant nation. We’ll be quickly put back in our place at number six or seven [in the world], where we started,” said Erasmus.
“It’s a team that beat England at home. It’s a team that’s lost to Argentina. We’ve lost to Argentina. We beat them [New Zealand] by only one point in the World Cup.”
As for his opposite number, AB’s coach Scott Robertson, Erasmus had only words of praise — and also pointed out the former loose forward was in far better shape too.
“People must understand that Razor [Robertson] is a fantastic coach, he may be the best coach in the world. New Zealand is a rugby mad country. If you lose Richie Mo'unga suddenly and the core of the Crusaders players aren’t there, you’ve got a few injuries and you’re trying this guy at 10, a captain out for the first Test and strike Argentina on the wrong day … It doesn’t make Razor a bad coach. You saw what happened the next weekend. Now they’re here.
“Me and him I think are exactly the same size, except I’m much fatter than him. But we’re the same age. We played all our Test matches against each other, Crusaders matches, Cats matches, Free State matches, Lions matches… Had a few beers [with him] many times in my life. He would know this stadium really well.
“They’ve got too much class all round, too good a coaching system and structures not to get it right somewhere.”
Meanwhile, if Etzebeth were not able to overcome his knee niggle, Erasmus was confident he had sufficient cover in his squad.
“There’s a lot of names on the table. Having Pieter-Steph and Ruan starting, Ben-Jason covering middle lock, Jasper covering front lock and then we have three loose forwards on the bench - Marco [van Staden], Elrigh [Louw] and Kwagga [Smith]. Elrigh can play seven as well.
“You’ve got Salmaan [Moerat] who’s ready next week and Eben is maybe ready tonight. We try and look at everybody, but we try and make a calculated call.”