Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus dismissed any talk of revenge or “unfinished business” ahead of Saturday’s first test against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld, but did throw the coldest shade Ireland’s way when the question was asked.
Erasmus dismissed the talk first, and then reminded the Irish precisely what mattered more, throwing shade by saying he would rather have the two World Cup victories, as well as a British and Irish Lions series win, than concentrate on the three losses to Ireland since 2017.
“We don’t use those words,” Erasmus said coldly.
“I think probably from their side there is unfinished business in that they want to get to No 1. We don’t talk like that. We chat about how they performed in the URC and European Cup and we pick our teams accordingly to see the players who we think can do the job for us on Saturday.
“We train really hard and we try to stay in our reality, and that is that we are playing against a team at home that has beaten us. All the games were really close and they deserved all the wins.
“But there is never a score to settle, I’d rather take the World Cup - two World Cups - and a British and Irish Lions series, and take the three losses, but we never go out to lose. We definitely didn’t pick this team to try and lose.”
In what world can a rivalry be reborn? ⚔️
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 1, 2024
The Castle Lager Incoming Series is here!
📺 First Test kicks off this Saturday in Pretoria. pic.twitter.com/mSJTR1b8XI
The cold reminder that Ireland haven’t gone past a World Cup quarterfinal could not be more brutal, and while the Boks are hoping to break the streak against the Irish, the last two games have been decided more by the Springboks' goalkickers’ inaccuracy than anything else.
That’s what is adding more spice to the clash and while Erasmus also dismissed the rivalry as something fueled more by the Irish media than anything else, he said the Boks certainly didn’t see themselves as underdogs.
"It's the same as when we play the All Blacks and when we play big teams," he said at the team announcement on Wednesday.
"I think the rivalry is more from their (the Irish) media side than from ours. I think sometimes maybe they don't 100 per cent understand the South African sense of humour, why we find something funny, and sometimes it's quoted out of context.
"Take Simon Zebo as an example, the guy phoned me and says it was on a podcast, we had a few beers, made the crack (Zebo said Rassie hates Ireland) and he said that. Just to take the last part of what I said - 'let's spice it up' - that's also South African humour saying it back to Simon.
"So yes, they're No 2 in the world, they've beaten us last time. We don't see ourselves as underdogs, I don't think they see themselves as underdogs and I think we'll see two teams on Saturday who are really desperate to perform for their countries."
'A PROFESSIONAL GAME'
Erasmus was also asked if his former sidekick Jacques Nienaber, who was head coach for the World Cup campaign and now is assistant coach at Irish province Leinster, where the bulk of the Irish team is based, would have any influence on Ireland’s play, or had shared any secrets.
"Yeah, definitely they will, no doubt, but Jacques phones me every night and tells everything about Ireland! No, I'm joking,” Erasmus joked, underlining his jovial mood at the press conference.
"Look, rugby is a professional game. Certainly, he will implement things there that worked for us here.
"Some of them you can clearly see. Some of them are working, some of them are not working because players of countries and cultures are different, and coaches are different.
"When you're in different countries and cultures, and I know from Munster, you didn't always read body language and when you said something you're not quite sure this guy gets what I'm trying to say.
"RG Snyman played for Munster. He's now a Leinster boy. So nowadays what you see on television and if you follow teams on Twitter, they post all their drills on Twitter and you can see basically who is starting and who is wearing the bib, those kinds of things.
"One thing I can promise you, I will never put Jacques in a position where the people he is working with and the team he loves, which is Leinster currently, thinking he would in any way help us.
"But I also trust him not to tell them the names of moves and calls and those kinds of things. I'm not worried about that."
LAUGHS AND BARBS
With former Irish captain Johnny Sexton now retired, he remains the biggest hole in Ireland’s attack since the last World Cup clash between the two sides.
Sexton’s tactical ingenuity was part of Ireland’s success against the Boks and Jack Carty would be the man in the saddle this weekend when the Irish face South Africa.
Erasmus wasn’t going to let it go without a bit of jest.
"The ref has got it much easier now. No, I'm joking,” he laughed.
"I always said when we played against Johnny, he so frustrated us but hell, it would be nice to be in his team. I guess I wanna say we have respect for him and how he plays, how he could command games and how he could command respect.
"But this young flyhalf (Crowley) is not scared. He plays it on the gainline, he goes for the cross kick, he doesn't shy away from tackling.
"I'm not sure if they will put the small one from Munster… (Craig) Casey or Murr (Conor Murray) with him. Maybe Casey because Casey and him play together. At that age, you don't feel the pressure of test match rugby so much until you actually realise what you're part of. Sometimes that's good.
"What has changed in their game? I think they even defend a little bit of Jacques Nienaber-style, a little bit. They are hard off the line, without a doubt."
But while there were laughs and barbs, and a lot of shade in between, the reality is that the Boks will want the win to stop Ireland’s record of being the only team they haven’t beaten since Erasmus took charge.
And they’re banking on a full Loftus Versfeld to do that.
🗣️ "This is a bitter one to swallow."
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 1, 2024
The scenes after Ireland beat the Springboks the last time they met at the Rugby World Cup..
Loftus is the setting for the first rematch 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/ltkQr2qa2h