Classic.

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus was in excellent form yesterday after announcing his squad to take on Ireland in their series opener this weekend.

The two-time World Cup winner has gone fully loaded with his selection this weekend, recalling several of his top names for the hugely anticipated series between the two sides.

Despite losing their last three games to Ireland, Erasmus made it clear he’d much rather be in his shoes with a big statement, but his comments about Johnny Sexton and Jacques Nienaber had us all laughing.

When asked about the difference he’s seen in Ireland in the post-Johnny Sexton era, Erasmus said:

“The ref has got it much easier now.”

Then when asked if he has spoken to former Springboks head coach Jacques Nienebar who his now at Leinster ahead of this weekend’s game, he replied:

“Jacques phones me every night and tells me everything about Ireland.”

All jokes aside, Erasmus made it clear that he would never put Jacques in a tricky position like that and both men will always be very professional in how they do their jobs.

“Look, rugby is a professional game,” Erasmus continued.

“Certainly, he will implement things there that worked for us here. Some of them you can clearly see. Some of them are working, some of them are not working because players of countries and cultures are different, and coaches are different.

“One thing I can promise you, I will never put Jacques in a position where the people he is working with and the team he loves, which is Leinster currently, thinking he would in any way helps us.

“But, I also trust him not to tell them the name of moves and calls and those kind of things. I’m not worried about that.”