Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus during a press conference Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus hinted that his side will need to deliver an improved performance against England this weekend.
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Following their hard-fought win over Scotland in their November tour opener, the Springboks will be wary of a wounded England side in their next match according to coach Rassie Erasmus.
Though the Springboks beat Scotland 32-15 at Murrayfield on Sunday, it was perhaps not the convincing performance the world champions would have envisaged.
The Springboks held a slender lead at 19-15 up heading into the last quarter of the clash, before a couple late scores sealed the contest.
England, in contrast, fell to a shock 42-37 defeat to Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
It was Australia’s first Test match win in five attempts since September 1 when they edged Argentina 20-19 in the Rugby Championship. In fact, that was Australia’s only win in the Rugby Championship as they finished rock bottom of the table.
It’s quite possible that Erasmus is keeping his strongest team to face England, after making 11 changes for the Scotland clash from the side which completed the Springboks’ Rugby Championship title with their 48-7 win over Argentina in September.
"Twickenham will be a different kind of pressure," said Erasmus. "It's a very desperate team, who have lost two matches now.
"Australia might not be up there rankings-wise, but we know where they're going with (coach) Joe Schmidt.
"England is now that desperate team who almost beat New Zealand, almost beat Australia, so it's going to be a very tough game.”
Alluding to the England game, Erasmus explained his team selection.
"We rested two packs for a reason, because we want the pack of forwards to be fresh for the six-day turnaround.”
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