VIDEO: Boks ready to 'go to the gutters' on year-end tour

The South African trophy cabinet is bulging, but coach Rassie Erasmus is apprehensive with a critical World Cup draw looming.

Erasmus’ team heads off on a five-match year end tour at the end of the month with seven wins from nine Tests – the losses coming against Australia and New Zealand.

South Africa has bookmarked the year-end Tests against France and Ireland, but they can’t afford to underestimate Japan, Italy and Wales.

They just completed the Rugby Championship, won by the Springboks with a 29-27 squeaker over Argentina at Twickenham on October 4, highlighting several issues to the resolved by the back-to-back World Cup champions.

However, the vigorous nature of the encounter with a tenacious Los Pumas in London has prepared the Boks well for their showstoppers against France and Ireland.

The Stade de France face-off with Les Bleus on November 8 is a replay of the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal, which the Boks won by one point.

Two weeks later, in Dublin, they get to take on an Ireland team that edged them in a World Cup pool match.

“We always knew Argentina had massive fight in them,” Erasmus said of his team’s nailbiting Twickenham win.

“They take you to the gutters, and we had to swim in the gutters with them.”

Despite winning the Rugby Championship, Erasmus admitted he was ‘not satisfied’ with the performance in the tournament finale.

“It is much nicer to learn while you are winning than when you are losing,” the Bok coach said.

And going into the year-end tour ranked No.1 in the world puts the Bok in pole position ahead of the draw for the 2027 World Cup, which will take place on Wednesday, December 3.

“We are certainly under no illusion how tough the year-end tour will be.”

Searching for the ‘perfect game’ is one goal, but Erasmus and his coaching panel will “stay in the present” and not look beyond the next five games to the 2027 World Cup.

“The character [of the team and players] was okay, but tactically there are a lot of things to fix.”

(WATCH as Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus gives a glimpse into what he expects on South Africa’s five-Test year-end tour…..)

The Boks’ Rugby Championship stats show the areas that require the most work.

Their tackle completion rate is the lowest of all four teams, 80 percent.

The set pieces are not much better – just 83 percent of their line-outs won, third of the four teams, and scrums are 89 percent, also third.

@rugby365com