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Rassie Erasmus quick to point out Boks' recent domination of All Blacks
By Josh Raisey
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus is “under no illusions that both games are going to be massive” against the All Blacks in September, but was eager to remind Scott Robertson’s side of their recent record over them after naming his 36-man squad that will fly out to New Zealand for the two Tests.
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The world champions boast a four-match winning streak against the All Blacks, with the World Cup final and New Zealand’s largest-ever defeat – a chastening 35-7 scoreline in a World Cup warm-up match – among those losses.
While the newly-crowned world number ones have experienced far greater periods of dominance over the Boks in the past, it is not since 1937-1949 that South Africa have enjoyed a better win streak (six matches) over their fierce rivals.
Ahead of their meeting, Erasmus did admit that “we are not paying much attention to our historic records in New Zealand,” which may be beneficial, as in order to extend their current streak to five matches, they must become the first side to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park in 50 Test matches, dating back to 1994, on September 6 in round three of the Rugby Championship.
“We are under no illusions that both games are going to be massive, and every match against the All Blacks is epic, given the rivalry between the teams,” Erasmus said.
“We won our last four matches against them dating back to 2023, which marked only the second time in history that we defeated them four times in a row, and there is no doubt that will motivate both teams.
“So, we need to ensure that we build on what we’ve been working on this year in the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Castle Lager Rugby Championship and take another step-up before facing them in two weeks.”
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With a win and a loss apiece after two rounds, Erasmus labelled the Championship “wide open,” but said his side will arrive in New Zealand with confidence after their recent victory over Australia in Cape Town.
“The Castle Lager Rugby Championship is still wide open with all four teams having won a match in the first two rounds, so this tour is going to be vital for us, and we’ll certainly take confidence from the win against Australia last week when we board the plane,” said Erasmus.
“Facing the All Blacks in New Zealand is a massive challenge, but all the teams in this competition are ranked among the top sides in the world, and each one has the potential to beat one another on the day.
“In the last two months alone, Australia defeated us at Ellis Park and went down narrowly in their British & Irish Lions Series defeat, while Argentina defeated New Zealand last weekend and the British & Irish Lions, so we are not paying much attention to our historic records in New Zealand.
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“We learned valuable lessons from our first game against Australia, and we know exactly what we have to do to reach our standards and improve as the competition progresses, and I don’t think we need more motivation than that.”
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