Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks are determined to put things right against the Wallabies in Brisbane next Saturday after their loss to Argentina.
Having started their campaign on a high with a win against the Pumas in Durban, the Boks were brought back down to earth in Mendoza.
They will now face a Wallabies side that Erasmus predicts will be keen to get on a winning run after two demoralising defeats to the All Blacks.
‘I think they are possibly in a worse position than us,’ Erasmus told reporters on Saturday. ‘They played the world champions, who gave them a proper hiding. They are desperate and that will make them dangerous.
‘We are desperate,’ he added. ‘We lost against a team we did not want to lose against. So I think it will be two teams trying to rectify the previous week’s mistakes and them playing at home will make it tougher for us.’
When asked to explain what contributed to the loss against the Pumas, Erasmus pointed to the inexperience of a few of his combinations.
‘The moment you get to 10 or 11 Test matches, you can stop saying it is nerves. I think it is nerves for a few of the guys and I am not making excuses for them because we are just as involved and should be experienced enough to help those guys through. For a few of those guys, it was their first Test away from home in that hostile environment.’
Erasmus says he is already considering where he can make changes to the team but again reinforced that he will be more conservative in his selection than originally planned.
‘When you lose, the pressure is more. Everyone always says “we are building”, but we must win and if you lose, there is pressure, no matter who you lose to. The pressure is on us to perform better and to win.
‘After Argentina, we were planning to make quite a few changes to test a few things without making the team less effective or disrespecting Australia. But we have put ourselves in a position where we have to win at all costs. We will definitely experiment less than we would have but there will be a few changes.
‘When I say experimenting, it is not recklessly taking one player who is 10 times worse or better than another and putting him in there. It is not experimenting for the sake of it. It is trying to find out who our best guys in each position are and who works well with who.’
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images
