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The Springbok coach said Australia may face tough Lions opponents, but his players train against fellow World Cup winners.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has defended the preparedness of his charges ahead of the Rugby Championship despite facing weaker opposition than Australia in the build-up.
The Springboks play their first two matches of the tournament against the Wallabies, first in Joburg on 16 August and then in Cape Town on 23 August.
Speaking to the media during their two-week training camp in Johannesburg, Erasmus said the camp had been extended due to concerns among the coaches. They felt players weren’t getting focused training before and during their season openers.
He said cutting the squad from his initial 55 at the beginning of the season down to 37 will allow the coaches to give players more one-on-one attention.
Springboks train against Springboks
When asked whether the Springboks’ less-than-perfect performances in some areas—particularly in the first Test against Italy—had influenced the decision to extend the training camp, and whether playing the 10th and 11th-ranked nations offered less preparation than Australia’s build-up against the British & Irish Lions, Erasmus said no to both.
The Bok coach explained that Springbok players training with other Springboks elevates intensity, while Italy and Georgia presented top-range preparation in the physicality of the sport.
“If Eben Etzebeth trains against RG Snyman, or Lood [de Jager] plays against Ruan [Nortjé] or Siya Kolisi against Marco van Staden… if your training sessions are proper, and you have intent, you probably have eight weeks of good preparation,” Erasmus said.
“What Australia definitely have is, I wouldn’t say more talented, but more rounded players who are used to playing Super Rugby and British & Irish Lions now.”
The coach said by the time the Wallabies come to South Africa they will either be feeling sore from a 3–0 defeat at the hands of the Lions, or they will have won the last Test and feeling like the second one slipped their grasp, and so have more to prove against the Springboks.
Rassie expects Australia to come out guns blazing
“So it all depends on how Joe and his coaching staff and players handle that. We don’t know what players are going to get onto that flight. We just know that we’ve got another three weeks to prepare for them and it will be a team used to playing against New Zealand teams.
“They will either be really battle-ready or they might be flat and punch drunk, and have three injuries in one position, and then they might be in trouble. But that’s being negative. I think they will take a lot of heart out of the previous game. I think they will do really well again this weekend.”
Erasmus added the Wallabies will have new energy with the arrival of their new coach, Les Kiss, on the horizon.
