“The players will have additional time to recover from the travel, and then we’ll hit the ground running on the training field on Friday,” said Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick. “Having a few extra days to acclimatise and familiarise ourselves with the conditions will be invaluable.” The Springboks had a tough two-Test series against Ireland, which ended 1-1 and with a few key players suffering injuries.

The fringe players than had good hit outs against Wales in London and Portugal in Bloemfontein, which would have given Erasmus and his staff a good indication of who will face the Wallabies.

Rassie on 𝘈![CDATA[]]>𝘭![CDATA[]]>𝘭![CDATA[]]>𝘦![CDATA[]]>𝘴 Rugby has always been part of his life 🏉 Episode 5: Rassie Erasmus on falling in love with rugby ▶️#ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks pic.twitter.com/l6wZ0ic3y6

— Springboks (@Springboks) July 24, 2024The Australians started life under new coach New Zealander Joe Schmidt with two wins against Wales and a victory in the one-off Test against Georgia. Stick is wary of the challenge the Australians will bring despite them dropping down to ninth in the World Rugby rankings.

“We started the season well with three victories in our four matches to date (against Wales, Ireland and Portugal), and although we would have loved to win the second Test against Ireland, we have a good base to build from going into the Rugby Championship,” said Stick. “Playing against the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Argentina will definitely be a different challenge to the teams we have faced so far this season, but we enjoy playing against these teams and we are really looking forward to the competition.”

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‘New dogs in the neighbourhood’ – Rassie Erasmus addresses surprise Springboks omission

Rassie Erasmus has explained why powerhouse forward Evan Roos has missed out on selection for the Australian tour of the Rugby Championship. The number eight has enjoyed a couple of superb seasons for the Stormers and was rewarded with a call-up for the mid-year series. Roos started against both Wales and Portugal, showing glimpses of his quality in the dominant victories in London and Bloemfontein respectively. However, it was not enough for him to be named in South Africa’s squad for the two games against the Wallabies.

Struggles against Ireland

Many were surprised by his Rugby Championship omission, especially with Kwagga Smith having a few issues in that spot against Ireland, but Erasmus insists that Roos should not worry about his absence. “Certainly, Evan is not out of the mix,” he told reporters. “Prior to the Portugal Test, we told the guys, ‘you guys get a chance, go and express yourself and put up your hand. Show that there’s some new dogs in the neighbourhood, start lifting your leg and make your mark there.’ Certainly, a few guys did. “Elrigh [Louw], we want to experience him against big nations. He was part of our plans always, but he certainly took a dip in form, he would admit that himself. “We know what Evan now can do. Evan has not been thrown away, we still have nine Test matches this year. “Against Argentina away last year we picked a totally different team, like we did against Portugal. It’s building squad depth. “We know what Evan can do and he certainly didn’t have a bad game. We certainly know he’s comfortable within the Springbok set-up, we will now see if Elrigh gets his chance to show what he can do.” Some have questioned whether Roos’ style of play is suited to the Springboks’ game plan but Erasmus rejected that notion.

Gaining experience

“On defence, their roles are pretty much the same as it is with the Stormers. I think most of the South African teams have more or less the same defensive mindset and systems. There might be small tweaks here or there, but we are pretty familiar with the way the Stormers defend,” the Boks head coach said. “We’re just trying to get caps under their belt. We know what he can do and we have no problem with what he did for us, but it’s time to give Elrigh a chance against top tier nations Where will South Africa finish in the Rugby Championship “The Bulls went the deepest in the URC and he was certainly one of the more physical players in that set-up. There’s no prescription more than what we will have for Elrigh or Pieter-Steph or Kwagga, or for anybody else. “We’re definitely not punching his type of play in. I would rather say we encourage him more to play the way Evan wants to play, and he certainly did [against Portugal]. “He made a few errors. Like anybody else who hasn’t got more than 10 Test caps, he will make some errors.”