Rassie Erasmus makes honest admission ahead of second All Blacks Test
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Nervous.
Rassie Erasmus has admitted he is feeling the nerves ahead of Saturday’s crucial second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
South Africa head into the clash needing a response after suffering a 33-16 defeat at Ellis Park in the opening game of the four-Test Greatest Rivalry series.
Another defeat would leave the Springboks 2-0 down and unable to win the series, with their best possible outcome then being a 2-2 draw.
Erasmus is under no illusions about what is at stake.
“I can’t say I’m not nervous. I’m definitely nervous again,” Erasmus explained.
“We are one game down, and if we don’t win this game, we can’t win the series. We can only draw it. So nerves are there for sure.”
The Springboks have found themselves under enormous pressure before during Erasmus’ time in charge.
They recovered from losing the opening Test of the 2021 British & Irish Lions series, while defeats to New Zealand and Ireland during the pool stages of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups respectively did not prevent South Africa from going on to win both tournaments.
Erasmus has often responded to those situations by attempting to take the spotlight himself, and he explained why he is adopting a similar approach ahead of the second All Blacks Test.
“I mean, we’ve been under pressure a lot of times like that.”
The Springbok boss wants his assistant coaches concentrating on correcting the problems from Ellis Park rather than worrying about what they might say publicly during a hugely important week.
“You want them to concentrate on that, and not on ‘what am I going to say here’,” Erasmus said.
“So they can now do the coaching there in their roles. When you’re not under the pump like that, there’s a little bit more breathing space.”
Erasmus even brought laughter from the room when he finished his answer by asking: “Are you getting tired of me?”
The Springbok coach also rejected the suggestion that taking responsibility for the defeat amounted to shielding his players from criticism.
“No, I’m not shielding them,” Erasmus added.
“It’s definitely the truth that – a lot of the things that we asked from them, they did, and the plan didn’t win the game for us. But it’s definitely also not the players that lost the game for us.
“I’m not just shielding them; I’m taking responsibility for some decisions we made. But we’re a group. I don’t want players to sit and explain why we lost if it was more on me than I think. I’m just trying to be honest, not shielding them.”
South Africa have responded to the opening defeat by making changes for Cape Town, with Handre Pollard and Cobus Reinach selected as the starting half-back combination.
Siya Kolisi has also been cleared to return after his recent hamstring problem, while Ethan Hooker comes onto the wing in the absence of Cheslin Kolbe.
The significance of Saturday’s game is clear.
Victory would level the four-Test series at 1-1 and send the rivalry into the final two Tests with everything still to play for.
Defeat would ensure New Zealand cannot lose the series.
For Erasmus and the Springboks, the immediate task is producing another response when the pressure is at its highest.
