Rassie unsure if Wallabies will arrive here down under

TimesLIVE

29-07-2025

Rassie Erasmus admits he doesn't know whether the Wallabies will be battle ready, flat or punch drunk as a result of the series against the British & Irish Lions before heading to South Africa for a two-Test series in the Rugby Championships against the Springboks.
Series' against the B&I Lions are usually a battle of attrition that also take a significant emotional toll on players. Australia are 2-0 down with a Test to play in Sydney on Saturday, a series defeat that could affect their morale and confidence ahead of the southern hemisphere tournament in which the Boks are defending champions.
The Wallabies might also take hope from some decent performances among the defeats.
'They might have three injuries in one position and then they might be in trouble. But that's thinking negatively,' the Bok coach said.
'There will be more energy because Joe [Schmidt, the head coach] is stepping down and Les Kiss is taking over and I think Les is touring. We know it will be a really competitive Wallabies team coming to South Africa.'
🗣️ "Maybe some of them play next year, maybe some play in the World Cup year."
Rassie Erasmus explains the reason behind selecting the three Junior Boks to join the Springboks for their training camp ahead of the Rugby Championship. #SSRugby | #TRC2025 pic.twitter.com/TRmlfCFBjU
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 29, 2025
Having been written off well before the start of the series, the feisty Wallabies have given the much fancied B&I Lions a good run for their money.
It hasn't really challenged the outlook of the Springbok coach in the way they should be approaching their opening Tests of the Rugby Championship against Australia in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
'Joe Schmidt is a great coach and we know the players pretty well so it wasn't a surprise for us [they were competitive against the Lions]... and we think the third Test will be close. It won't influence our team selection.'
Compared to the rarefied atmosphere the Wallabies are exposed to in their current three-Test series, Erasmus believes the preparation his team got in the four matches they've played thus far should be sufficient heading into the Rugby Championship.
'If your training sessions are proper and your intent is there then you probably have eight weeks of good preparation,' he said about his team's build-up. 'The physicality Italy brought in that first Test and Georgia brought to us, that certainly would not be less to what Australia will bring here.
The #Springboks are back in camp 👊 #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/29piJ35e2n
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 28, 2025
'What Australia definitely have are more rounded players who are used to playing Super Rugby against players from New Zealand and who have played the B&I Lions now. They could lose the series 3-0 and be hard up to come here or they'll win the last one thinking they could have won the second.'
Whatever the mindset, Erasmus is not taking anything for granted.
He has had to trim his squad to meet short and long-term objectives. They need to beat the Wallabies, fine-tune for their crunch Test against the All Blacks in Auckland and build towards the next Rugby World Cup in 2027. Having a smaller squad provides them the opportunity to give players more personalised attention.
'When Daan [Human, the Boks' scrum coach] does the scrums, it's not like eight guys [front rowers] who have to swap in. We also get more game time into the players.
'The big positive is to get a lot of repetitions in attack, defence, the breakdown, contesting systems, aerial skills. It was a bit tough with the big squad to get all that right.
'The big thing now is to get one-on-one time with guys in specific positions. Obviously we will still swap a little in and out against Australia and see how we can get game time into most of the guys,' said Erasmus, forever the alchemist.
The only injuries within the Bok camp are to back-liners Canan Moodie and Cheslin Kolbe, neither, though, serious enough to keep them out of the Ellis Park Test.
'Canan has a bit of hand issue injury that should be ready next Monday. Cheslin has a bit of a knee but he seems OK. In the squad there are no real injury concerns.'
Outside the group, however, Erasmus mentioned prop Gerhard Steenekamp who will be out for six more weeks.
He has in his more irascible moments delivered some withering retrospectives with regards to the way the game is officiated but Erasmus neatly sidestepped the burning issue Down Under since the climax of the second Test between the Wallabies and the B&I Lions. In the last play of the game a ruck clean polarised opinion but the match officials ruled in favour of the B&I Lions, effectively handing them victory in the Test and crucially, the series.
Erasmus said it was a tough one to call, adding he would have been disappointed had he been Schmidt, as he would be satisfied had he been B&I Lions coach Andy Farrell.