Wallabies have Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus' full attention after Lions Tests

WHILE the Springboks’ match against the All Blacks at Eden Park is seen as the biggest clash of this year’s Rugby Championship, coach Rassie Erasmus’ sights are firmly set on their upcoming assignment against the Wallabies.

The Springboks have a chance to make history against the All Blacks in Auckland on September 6. The New Zealanders haven’t lost at the famous ground since that remarkable Test against the French in 1994, which featured “the try from the end of the world”. Many pundits believe that this bunch of Springboks could be the ones to do the business at Eden Park. 

However, the chance to re-rewrite the history books is far from his mind. Instead, it’s the Wallabies who occupy his thoughts if yesterday's press conference and his activity on the social media site ‘X’ is anything to go by.

The Wallabies’ ‘X’ page is currently the only account that the Bok coach is following, while he also revealed that he picked Australia to beat the British and Irish Lions in the second Test in Melbourne this past weekend.

However, the Wallabies lost that Test and ultimately the series after the touring side scored a late try to win at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It was a much-improved performance from the Wallabies, after also suffering defeat in the first Test. But this time around they took the game to the Lions, especially in the collisions. 

The Wallabies really showed up in the physical stakes, with returning lock Will Skelton and No 8 Rob Valetini making a big impact in the first half against the touring team.

“We are always careful about the opposition in the Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus.

“Australia showed last weekend that they have what it takes to win a match against a team like the British and Irish Lions, and they have an opportunity to try to achieve that this weekend, so we are expecting tough battles against them, as well as New Zealand and Argentina.”

Meanwhile, Erasmus cut short the Springboks holiday after the three home Test matches against Italy and Georgia to start preparations for the Rugby Championship with a more streamlined squad.

Erasmus and his staff has close to 50 players in camp for the the two-Test series against Italy and the one-off match against Georgia. But the squad of players have since been cut to 37 ahead of their opening two matches against Australia at home next month.

Erasmus admitted that this week’s training camp was not originally part of their schedule, as the players were supposed to enjoy a two-week break after the win over Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium.

However, the players were called back a week earlier to prepare for their Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on August 16. The Springboks and Aussies will then travel to Cape Town for their second match a week later on August 23.

Erasmus says they want to work closely with individuals, which is something that they struggled to do with the amount of players who were in camp during the incoming tours.

“These two weeks of camp will give us time to align as coaches, as well as on the conditioning aspects for the players and to take stock from a medical perspective, so it’s important in assisting us to get to where we want to be against three good countries in the series,” Erasmus said.

“We didn’t cut the squad to drop guys, because this is only for the Australian Tests, but we can have a lot more one-on-one time with players.

“We always knew, having such a big squad in the beginning, it will be tough. But the positive will be, if you do get injuries during the Rugby Championships or on the End-of-Year Tour, you have a player who is comfortable and will be able to play.”

“But you do lose a bit of attention individually (when the squad is too big).”