Preparations are underway at the Ellis Park stadium for the much anticipated Rugby Championship as the Springboks will take on the All Blacks. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers
The Springbok coach did his usual trick on X (formerly Twitter) of following the team that the world champions will be playing next – the All Blacks – before the build-up even started to Saturday’s massive Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Asked this week why he only follows one account at a time, Erasmus quipped: “Probably a few beers in!
“It’s interesting for me ... it’s not mind games. Guys tweet stuff about their team, and you see it and you might learn something there.
“You might see this guy is not strapped, but they said he’s injured ... It’s just like I get the newspaper ... You look at the photos, see what kind of drill they are trying to do there.
“It’s really just nice to know when they’ve arrived, what hotel are they staying in ... It’s just nice to know what the other countries do, and some of the training stuff is interesting.”
That’s the kind of attention to detail both teams will be engaging on this week, and that is how close it’s likely to be on the pitch on Saturday.
Just a point separated the Boks and All Blacks in their previous match, last year’s epic Rugby World Cup final in Paris, won 12-11 by South Africa.
The Kiwis will no doubt be seeking revenge, but they are under pressure following a recent loss to Argentina and the resignation of assistant coach Leon MacDonald.
The Boks are flying high, having beaten the Wallabies twice in Australia, and they have introduced a number of new faces, such as young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Usually it’s the Bok forwards versus the All Black backs that will determine the outcome, but the South Africans have grown their attacking game significantly under new assistant coach Tony Brown – who is a former New Zealand flyhalf himself.
The visitors, though, won their last encounter at Ellis Park in 2022, proving that they don’t fear the ‘altitude factor’ either.
But there’s nothing like a packed 60 000-plus Ellis Park crowd to get Siya Kolisi’s Bok team going.
It’s sure to be a fantastic occasion, and may the party go on long into the Joburg night ...
Cape Times