Siya Kolisi of the Springboks (right) is tackled by Pete Samu of the Wallabies during the Rugby Championship Test match between the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, 27 August 2022. Picture: EPA-EFE, MATT TURNER
Mike Greenaway
AN OLD rugby adage is that you are only as good as your last game, and for the Springboks, they might take that one further and reflect on their previous outing against the Wallabies in Sydney in 2022.
In that match at the Sydney Football Stadium, the Boks smashed the Aussies off the park in a 24-8 rout that we will remember for an incensed Eben Etzebeth almost throttling wide-eyed prop Allan Alaalatoa.
Also in that game, the usually carefree Makazole Mapimpi told his opposite number, Marika Koroibete, his fortune with a pointed finger and choice language. It was out of character but it reflected the Boks’ mood.
The Boks were pumped up and got stuck into the Wallabies after losing the week before to the same team and barely firing a shot.
That game in Adelaide was infamous for home scrumhalf Nic White slumping to the ground as if he had been shot after Faf de Klerk had waved a hand in front of his face.
Those two games were like chalk and cheese. In the first, the Boks went through the motions; in the second, they got angry, and there would be only one winner.
Rassie Erasmus: “We are travelling to Australia with good groundwork already in place, and hopefully that pays off” - more here: https://t.co/qGgD8qfuoB 🛫#ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks pic.twitter.com/qDgRlyQeXE
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 31, 2024
Coach Rassie Erasmus knows all of this and when he said in his departure press conference that this would be the “no excuses” tour of Australia, it was music to my ears.
If anybody thinks I am making too much of South Africa’s poor record in Australia, here are the facts: Since the game turned professional in 1996, the Boks have won just five times on Aussie soil and lost on 22 occasions. They have lost four of their last five games there.
“This is the ‘no excuses’ tour,” Erasmus said on Wednesday.
“We are certainly well aware of how we have disappointed with our performances in Australia.
“Every year we have found an excuse, whether it’s maybe the first time playing in an unfamiliar city or a travel delay. We are a team that shouldn’t have excuses.”
To circumvent the latter, the Boks have left unusually early ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship game in Brisbane.
Erasmus said he wanted to eliminate the possibility of flight delays after the Boks were stuck in London for 48 hours after the friendly against Wales in June.
“We have flown extra early to Australia,” he said. “We want to get there sooner rather than later and it is very important to us that we are well in place in Brisbane to start a proper week of training on the Monday.
“We wanted to get there early so that the players can have time off to get over jet lag and acclimatise to Australia.
“On Monday (tomorrow), we can get cracking with training with having had no stress in the build-up.
“The last time we flew out, we flew on a Sunday, and the flight was cancelled – not that it’s an excuse – but we are trying to negate those things.
“We just want a normal Test week when we get to Australia. They are a proper team with a new coach (New Zealander Joe Schmidt) and will have lots of energy.
“We want to hit the ground running at training on Monday with a fit squad and no excuses,” the coach concluded.
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