Two finches come to rest on a chandelier in an annexe to the lobby area of the Beverly Hills hotel in Umhlanga Rocks in Durban where South Africa’s head coach Rassie Erasmus is holding court ahead of Saturday’s second Test against Ireland at Kings Park (4.0, Irish time). Maybe it’s a sign that the Springbok coach can indeed charm the birds from the trees.
Last week he had a stab at picking the Irish team while indulging in a colourful treatise across a variety of topics. This time he was content to keep it in-house and on message, unveiling an unchanged South Africa team and replacements from the one that beat Ireland 27-20 in a punishing encounter for the visitors at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
No injuries, no need to change, just a week concentrating on getting better was a shorthand appraisal of the briefing. Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel will become the most-capped centre pairing in South African history when they combine in the midfield for the 30th time in Test matches.
Erasmus said: “It’s always tough facing Ireland. They are a quality team, they are ranked second in the world, and as we saw last week, they never stop fighting, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that awaits us this weekend.
“We have no doubt they’ll come out even stronger this week, but we also identified the areas of the game that we need to improve on, and it’s vital for us to build on our performance in our quest to win both matches.”
Talk of winning the series 2-0 is foremost among the minds and hearts of the hosts. “Since we got together as a group, we’ve lost to them [Ireland] by three points, three points and five points, or something like that. Two were away games and one was a neutral venue, so they clearly had our number.
“This weekend again, in the last minute if they kept the ball through phases, it would have been a draw. Certainly, they created a lot, and they could have scored one, two, or three tries more. We both scored three tries and we had a few more opportunities that wouldn’t have just been opportunist, it was some well-structured play that didn’t end up in tries.
“Personally, when we go to play the All Blacks, it’s nice to win. When you play against Wales, it’s nice to win but Ireland is certainly one of the teams that’s been peaking, ruling the Six Nations, and delivering world-class players. Without a doubt, we know that every single time we go up against them it’s going to be a very tight match.
“If we do manage to make it 2-0, it wouldn’t be just satisfaction for me, it would be nice for South Africa, for the team and for our morale. They had our number in the last four Test matches, they’re 3-1 up. It would be nice, but not for me especially, for South Africa.”
There is an unmistakable air of confidence. Last week Erasmus might have been a little more unsure, so he donned the jester’s hat. It was not that he lacked grace then, but this was a more languid version, happy to toss a few bouquets towards Conor Murray and Paul O’Connell, former acolytes during his time at Munster, albeit that he continued to refer to Craig Casey in abstract terms.
Erasmus said: “We know [Jack] Crowley is class, and so was the previous nine who got injured. Conor has been there and done it all, Lions, Munster, Pro 14s, all of those things, so he will bring a lot of calmness. I know him personally well, he’s a great team-man, so I think overall calmness, and obviously a great kicking game with those box-kicks. He’s certainly kicking it the highest I’ve encountered as a coach.”
On O’Connell he ventured: “You just know you’ll have to be on top of your game. I know him personally, worked with him for 18 months, and played against him. You’re always gonna get a very technical, tactical, smart lineout.”
Soon after it was time to go for Erasmus and the birds. They’d seen and heard enough.
SOUTH AFRICA: W Le Roux; C Kolbe, J Kriel, D de Allende, K-L Arendse; H Pollard, F de Klerk; O Nche, B Mbonambi, F Malherbe; F Mostert, E Etzebeth; S Kolisi (capt), P Steph du Toit, K Smith.
Replacements: M Marx, G Steenekamp, V Koch, RG Snyman, S Moerat, M van Staden, G Williams, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
