Rassie Erasmus is confident that Australia will be competitive under the stewardship of Joe Schmidt against the British and Irish Lions in 2025.
Erasmus’ Springboks once again overpowered the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship last week with a convincing victory at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Traditionally, South Africa’s record in Australia is not great but Saturday’s result was their third on the bounce Down Under, dating back to a 24-8 win in Sydney two years ago.
For Australia, Schmidt must consider what to do about snapping an eight-match losing streak in the Rugby Championship, and without the services of injured centre Hunter Paisami (knee) for the rest of the tournament.
But, local critics have already questioned whether the Kiwi tactician can turn things around for the Wallabies and avoid finishing with the wooden spoon in the four-team southern hemisphere competition.
MORE: All Blacks must boss Boks – Read
Further ahead, eyebrows are raised on if the Aussies will put up much of a fight against Andy Farrell and the British and Irish Lions next year when the European outfit tours the country for the first time in 12 years.
Speaking on Saturday after a rare Bok whitewash of the Wallabies in their own backyard, Erasmus told reporters: “I know I said it last week but a week in rugby is long. I [previously] mentioned it when the Boks lost 57-0 [to the All Blacks in 2017] and then the next weekend they lost by one point at Newlands.
“We saw New Zealand losing to Argentina [recently] and now gave them a proper hiding.
“You can’t take out the fact that there’s key players injured [for Australia], and you can’t take away the fact that it’s a new coaching staff, and the Lions are only next year.
“We had a team in 2018, 18 months out from the World Cup, and there were people burning jerseys and not wanting to go watch matches.
“But you get the right people on board, which I think Joe is, and you get the right players on board – one of the props [Taniela Tupou’s] father died, and he’s a key part of the team – and a lot of players got injured.
“So yes, I do think they’ll be competitive with Joe Schmidt as their head coach.”
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
