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Wallabies offered glimmer of hope by Springboks coach after reality check in South Africa loss

It's not all doom and gloom for Australian rugby fans, according to Rassie Erasmus.

adam lucius
Contributor
·3-min read

World Cup-winning Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has recalled the days of fans burning South African jerseys in the streets to offer Australian rugby hope of a major revival heading into next year's British Lions tour. After his team completed the double over the Wallabies with a clinical 30-12 win in Perth on Saturday night – retaining the Nelson Mandela Plate and moving into top spot on the Rugby Championship table – Erasmus was heavy in his praise for the way Australia is going about a rebuild under Joe Schmidt.

He sees parallels to the Boks' own resurrection from the dark days of 2016-17 to World Cup winners in 2019 and 2023. Schmidt won his first three games in charge – beating Wales twice before overcoming Georgia – but the South Africans have given him a sharp reminder of how much work there is to do.

The Springboks and Wallabies.
The Springboks were way too good for the Wallabies despite making mass changes. Image: Getty

The world champions won last weekend's Brisbane Test 33-7 and made 10 changes for Perth but still ran out convincing four tries to nil winners against an Australian side decimated by injury. With the powerful British and Irish Lions due on Australian shores in less than 12 months, there are genuine fears the series could be one-way traffic.

Springboks players, pictured here with the Nelson Mandela Plate after their win over the Wallabies.
The Springboks lift the Nelson Mandela Plate after their win over the Wallabies. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

But Erasmus has belief the Wallabies can mount a strong challenge. "A week in rugby is long. I mentioned it when the boys lost 57-0 (to New Zealand in 2017) and then the next weekend they lost by one point (to the All Blacks) at Newlands," he said after his team's win in Perth.

"We saw New Zealand losing to Argentina (last weekend), and now gave them a proper hiding (on Saturday night). You can't take out the fact (Australia) had key players injured (in Perth) and you can't take away the fact that it's a new coaching staff, and the Lions are only next year. We took a team in 2018 - 18 months out from the World Cup – and there were people (in South Africa) burning jerseys and not wanting to go and watch matches."

Wallabies players, pictured here during their loss to South Africa.
Wallabies players look on during their loss to South Africa. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

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Erasmus believes Schmidt is the man to engineer a Wallabies resurrection following the mess left behind by Eddie Jones, predicting they will be a more "accurate and disciplined" outfit under the New Zealander. He said: "It takes time. Any new coach that comes in, you just don’t have three games and put your footprint on it and say, 'this is where I want to take the team'.

"You (have to) get the right people on board and I do think they will be competitive with Joe Schmidt as their coach. (I have) a little knowledge about Joe Schmidt and how he coaches and the principles…he can turn things around and I'm pretty sure he will."