Rassie Erasmus warns Springboks to beware ‘desperate’ England
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South Africa's Siya Kolisi trying to escape the attentions of Scotland's Huw Jones on Nov 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
EDINBURGH – Rassie Erasmus has warned his South Africa side they will be up against a “desperate” England when the world champions continue their November campaign at Twickenham on Nov 16.
The Springboks returned to the top of the world rankings with a hard-fought 32-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Nov 10.
That success came the day after England’s dramatic 42-37 loss to Australia, their second straight defeat of the Autumn Nations Series, following a 24-22 reverse against New Zealand.
“Twickenham will be a different kind of pressure. It’s a very desperate team, who have lost two matches now,” said Springboks boss Erasmus.
“Australia might not be up there rankings-wise, but we know where they’re going with (coach) Joe Schmidt. England is now that desperate team who almost beat New Zealand, almost beat Australia, so it’s going to be a very tough game.”
It will be South Africa’s first match against Steve Borthwick’s England since their dramatic 16-15 World Cup semi-final win
South Africa had seven forwards among eight replacements against Scotland in a bid to keep their first-choice pack fresh for this weekend’s game, with the Springboks having a shorter gap between Tests than England.
Franco Mostert came off at half-time before Erasmus sent on six more forwards five minutes after the break in Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Vincent Koch, Pieter-Steph du Toit, regular captain Siya Kolisi and Jasper Wiese.
The impact of South Africa’s latest “Bomb Squad” proved telling, with the Springboks winning several scrum penalties before Wiese sealed victory with a pushover try in the final play of the game.
“We rested two packs for a reason, because we want the pack of forwards to be fresh for the six-day turnaround,” said Erasmus.
South Africa outscored Scotland four tries to nil in a match they won by 17 points. Makazole Mapimpi (two), Thomas du Toit joined Wiese in crossing the line.
Nevertheless, veteran lock Eben Etzebeth, who marked his elevation to the captaincy with a Man-of-the-Match display, insisted there was room for improvement.
“We obviously set high standards, we drive it within the team,” said Etzebeth, the lone Springbok forward to play the full 80 minutes on Nov 10.
“We want to keep on performing and we know now and again there is going to be a performance which we are not that proud of.”
Flanker Ted Hill and winger Tom Roebuck have been called into the England squad in place of Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who both suffered concussions in the loss to Australia.
Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland appealed for both patience and time for his young side to develop after they lost a 10th successive international, upset 24-19 by Fiji at the Principality Stadium on Nov 10.
But he shrugged off suggestions his own position was under threat as Wales’ run without success since World Cup 2023 was extended in a surprise loss to the Pacific Islanders.
“You can worry about that. The pressure comes from the media as it’s a narrative you create. That’s OK,” he told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“I believe that since the World Cup, with the players we’ve lost, we’ve invested in the youngsters and we’ve seen development. We need patience and time. I understand Test match rugby is about winning. You control the narrative and write what you want.” AFP, REUTERS
