Rassie struggles to read Wallabies

Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks find the Wallabies “tremendously difficult to play against” as they prepare for Sunday’s one-off Test in Perth.

The Boks were given a painful reminder of Australia’s threat at Ellis Park last year, when they raced into a 22-0 lead before conceding 38 unanswered points to lose 38-22 – the Wallabies’ first victory at the Johannesburg venue since 1963.

“And it was at altitude, and they only flew in that week,” Erasmus told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“There was a little bit of arrogance from our side, being 22 up, and thinking, ‘It’s easy, boys, now’. I wouldn’t say it was disrespect, but I would say, stupidly, we thought, ‘OK, now we just can play this bloody loose game against Australia’.

“And they held it, and [Max] Jorgensen and those guys cut us to pieces. They could have even given us more points in that game. They smashed us.”

The Boks responded with a 30-22 victory in Cape Town a week later, but Erasmus says they have never taken success against the Wallabies for granted.

‘Difficult to play against’

“We find them tremendously difficult to play against, I don’t know why,” he said. “You just can’t say Australia play a certain way. That’s what’s tough for me, too, to analyse about them.

“We have immense respect for the Wallabies. You look at the track record, we struggle. We never think, ‘Oh, we have Australia’s measure’, no. That’s not in our minds.”

Erasmus has also been impressed by the Wallabies under coach Les Kiss, whose first four Tests in charge produced two wins against Japan and a win and a draw against Argentina.

Erasmus first encountered Kiss when the Australian worked with the Boks in 2001, the final year of Erasmus’ Test career as a player.

“He brought the first defensive structures,” Erasmus said. “Of course we didn’t have defensive structures in those days, it was all about just attacking.

“I know Les, we’re good friends, I know him from his Ulster days [when Erasmus coached Munster], so I know him well.”

**This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. **