THE statistics are something of the past, and Saturday will start a fresh rivalry between the Springboks and Wales when they clash on neutral ground in London.
It’s always a fierce rivalry when teams coached by Rassie Erasmus and Warren Gatland lock horns on the rugby field, and Erasmus expects nothing less this weekend when his side open their 2024 season against the Red Dragons at Twickenham (3pm SA time kick-off).
There’s no love lost between the two coaches, especially after the Springboks’ series win over the Gatland-coached British & Irish Lions a couple of years ago.
The spat has been pretty public, with Gatland even warning England during last year’s World Cup semi-final to be wary of the “dark arts” of Erasmus.
In 2018, it was Gatland’s Wales who triumphed over Erasmus in his first Test as Springbok coach, and the South African mentor will be looking to return the favour on Saturday in his first Test back since taking up the head coach role again.
The Welsh won only one of their Six Nations matches this year, but Erasmus said they can’t read anything into that.
“Warren is a very clever coach,” Erasmus said this week of his counterpart after naming a strong Bok side that will be captained by flank Pieter-Steph du Toit.
“We always find the Welsh are a more South African type of team who also like to grind it out and go with you to the dark and tough places.
“We are playing at Twickenham, so I think there will be a lot of South African and Welsh supporters, so it’ll be neutral grounds.
“We enjoyed playing the All Blacks there last year, and I think Warren will definitely get his guys up. They have a five-game losing streak, but you can also look at it another way.
“In the last 10 games we played (against each other), it is 5-5. The stats are something of the past – Saturday will be something new.
“The first target is to see if our pace is still there. The things that we do well and can do well, that they are still there, because we want to build on that, and when we strike 2027 (the Rugby World Cup in Australia), we want to be a much better team.”
In the zone 🎯 😤#Springboks#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/P8u0NtQOaf
Four players – flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse, wing Edwill van der Merwe (both in the starting team), and Stormers utility forward Ben-Jason Dixon and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – are in line to make their debuts for the world champions.
They will be surrounded by several World Cup winners and players who’ve played for the national side before.
So, they won’t be thrown into the deep end like Erasmus did with some of his selections in 2018, or in 2022 when former coach Jacques Nienaber tested some players against the Dragons in Bloemfontein, with the Springboks losing both matches.
“(This weekend) it’s all about how well we’ve prepared this past week – our accuracy in selecting the side, our determination, and how we operate; our pride and execution on the day,” Erasmus said.
“Many things will happen on the day, but we must live in our world and stay as close to the truth. And the truth is we are playing a Test against Wales at Twickenham, and about 60 000 tickets have been sold.
“We desperately want to win, but we won’t let other things distract us.”
Victory on Saturday will be a massive confidence-booster for the South Africans, and will also provide Erasmus and his assistant coaches a view of where the team is ahead of the big two-Test series against Ireland.
The Irish were the only team to beat the Boks at last year’s World Cup in France, but even after that, they claimed the crown.