VIDEO: Boks facing three tough weeks
SPOTLIGHT: South African coach Rassie Erasmus said New Zealand will be a ‘step up’, following the Springboks’ back-to-back victories over Australia in the Rugby Championship.
The four-time World Cup champions outscored the Wallabies by four tries to nil to claim a 30-12 victory and reclaim the Mandela Plate in front of 58,197 spectators at the Perth at the weekend.
Following their 33-7 win last week in Brisbane, South Africa made 10 changes for the Perth rematch but it proved to pay off as their depth of talent and firepower off the bench forced the Wallabies into submission in wet conditions.
“We have always struggled against Australia,” said Erasmus as South Africa won four straight matches against the Wallabies for the first time since their readmission to international rugby in 1992.
“We are always pleased with a win, and to get two bonus-point wins over here and the fact that all 33 players on tour played was fantastic.
“There were a few more tries that we could have scored so that it could have been a bigger winning margin, but we are pleased with earning five points two weeks in a row.”
The Springboks will face the old foe New Zealand in two Test matches in South Africa, with the first taking place at Ellis Park on August 31.
This will be the rematch of the 2023 World Cup Final where South Africa emerged as victors by defending their title in the 12-11 victory over New Zealand.
Following a shock loss to Argentina in the opening round of the Rugby Championship – New Zealand bounced back in style with a 42-10 victory over Los Pumas in the rematch at Eden Park on Saturday.
Erasmus said while the Wallabies are still finding their feet under new coach Joe Schmidt, the All Blacks will be a ‘much tougher’ challenge.
(Watch the Rassie Erasmus interview below …)
“Australia is currently rebuilding,” the Bok coach said.
He warned that the All Blacks are at their most dangerous when people start writing them off.
“A lot of people had a lot of stuff to say [after their loss to Argentina in Round One], but they knuckled down.
“We know the challenge that awaits us.
“We are facing them at altitude in Johannesburg and then in Cape Town where they are more comfortable, so we are excited about what will be a massive mini-series against the All Blacks.
“We are in for the tough three weeks.”
Meanwhile, Australia counted the cost from a gruelling Test after their front row was decimated by head injuries to their captain Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Bell and veteran James Slipper.
Inside centre Hunter Paisami and hooker Josh Nasser also joined the casualty list with leg injuries.
“I’ve been involved in coaching over 100 Test matches and I’ve never seen that [injuries in quick succession] before,” said Schmidt, whose record as Australia coach fell to 3-2.
The winless Wallabies face a daunting task of travelling to Argentina for back-to-back matches.
“It doesn’t get easier going to Argentina next,” Schmidt said.
“They’ll be disappointed with their first-half [against New Zealand], but they demonstrated how tough they can be to beat when they toppled the All Blacks.
“They won’t be taking it easy on us, and we’ll try to make it difficult for them.”
