Rassie has seen this movie before

OPINION: Wallaby boss Joe Schmidt will bring the best out of the Springbok players and coaches in what could be a groundbreaking two-Test series in Australia.

In the past, the Springboks haven’t always given the fixtures against the Wallabies the respect and attention they deserve.

To be fair, the Australian game has been in a spiral for the better part of two decades.

That the Wallabies continue to remain competitive – and continue to dominate the Boks in Australia – speaks volumes for the determination and pride of these athletes.

As the 2024 Rugby Championship looms, many will underestimate the Wallabies again.

Australia’s teams failed to deliver in the recent Super Rugby Pacific tournament, and the national side made heavy work of beating a weak Wales side that has dropped to 11th in the world rankings.

Based on this evidence, many would expect the Boks to claim two wins in Australia in August.

Some may go so far to say that the Boks should use the tour Down Under to experiment, given the opposition is relatively weak and that the chances of losing are relatively low.

But Rassie Erasmus has seen this movie before.

A complacent Bok team rolls into town expecting to bank two easy wins, and proceeds to get humbled by a more spirited and organised Wallabies side.

It’s not so much a movie as a long-running franchise.

The Boks have won one Test against the Wallabies in Australia over the past 11 years.

New Zealand is on often placed on the pedestal as the most difficult country to tour, but for the Boks, their success rate in Australia is even worse than their win-record in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

One win in Australia is massive, given the history of this fixture.

Two away wins against the Wallabies back-to-back?

It’s never been done by the Boks in the professional era.

Erasmus will be aware of these records.

The Boks are world champions, and at the start of the season, they would have set their sights of series wins against Ireland and New Zealand (with the latter contributing to a potential Rugby Championship title).

Setting the record straight in Australia, of course, would have been another priority, even though the Wallabies are no longer one of the top teams in the world.

The Boks will arrive in Australia on Thursday to ensure that they have time to acclimatise to the time zone and conditions ahead of the first match in Brisbane on August 10.

Erasmus has said that there will be no excuses for failure, and already, it feels like ‘The No Excuses Tour to Australia’ has taken on added importance.

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Part of the reason for a boost in relevance is down to the personnel in the opposition coaching box.

The Wallabies forwards weren’t particularly impressive in the series against Wales, and have suffered further injury setbacks since.

But in Laurie Fisher, they have a forwards specialist who knows how to neutralise a Springbok pack, and Mike Cron – a legend in coaching circles – will have surely some ideas about combatting the South African scrum.

The biggest threat is Joe Schmidt, as Erasmus stated at the Bok press conference on Tuesday.

Since taking the job at the start of the season, the former Ireland and All Blacks coach has made a world of difference.

The Wallabies may not be world-beaters just yet, but they’re a lot more organised than they were at last year’s World Cup in France.

It’s another movie Erasmus and Co have seen before.

The All Blacks were in free-fall after losing a home series to Ireland in July 2022.

Schmidt and Jason Ryan were added to the coaching staff after that, and while it took some time for the changes to take effect, the All Blacks eventually bounced back to claim a morale-boosting 35-23 win against the Boks at Ellis Park.

The All Blacks caught the Boks out again in the 2023 Rugby Championship Test in Auckland, racing to an early lead, and eventually winning 35-20.

The Bok players and coaches got their revenge in the one-off at Twickenham, which culminated in a record-breaking 35-7 win.

The 2023 World Cup Final was a lot tighter.

The All Blacks played much of the game with 14 men, yet still managed to stretch the Bok defence in the latter stages.

South Africa came through that final with a 12-11 win and yet another World Cup title, and to some, that is all that matters.

But Erasmus and his coaching staff haven’t forgotten how that game unfolded, and still have a healthy appreciation for Schmidt’s approach and influence.

It’s for this reason that the 2024 tour to Australia will be like no other.

All the pressure is on the Boks to deliver.

They’re no longer desperate for a drought-ending victory – having claimed a 24-8 win in Sydney in 2022 – and with a strong mix of World cup-winners and rookies in tow, they will start the series as favourites.

This time, however, the Boks will be less complacent in their approach to the Australian fixtures.

There has been talk about playing for places in the squad that will face New Zealand, but Erasmus’s recent statement suggests that they know what’s at stake in Australia.

The Boks may not know many of these younger Wallabies players, but they do know how what Schmidt can do to galvanise and amplify a team.

What’s more, they should still be hurting in the wake of the 1-1 series result against Ireland. That draw was celebrated as a win for Ireland and felt like a defeat for South Africa.

The pressure will continue to build if the Boks proceed to lose one or more games in Australia.

It’s for this reason that the two games Down Under – and the first Test in particular – will be among the most important of the season.

@rugby365com