As South Africa move into the final stage of their World Cup preperation, ahead of their tournament opener against Scotland on Sunday, Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus has warned that his charges will need to be in top form to beat the world’s fifth ranked team.
Speaking to the media, Erasmus said he knew Scotland coach Gregor Townsend very well and that Scotland would bring a well prepared and well coached side to do battle.
Erasmus and SA coach Jacques Nienaber coached together at Munster where they locked horns with Townsend, who was in charge of Glasgow Warriors, on several occasions.
Speaking to the media Erasmus said: “I don’t think a lot of people know that when myself and Jacques Nienaber were at Munster we coached against Gregor when he was at Glasgow Warriors and there were four games in one year.
“There is a close tie and Gregor is really a class coach who always has good plans.
“We know he is a coach who supports players with ball in hand and what people call ‘play what you see’. So, there is always a threat with a flyhalf like Finn Russell.
“There is a close connection with defence coach Steve Tandy, and we coached against him when he was at the Ospreys. Then there is also scrum coach Pieter de Villiers, who is South African.
“There are also a lot of South African players in the Scottish team, and they know our players well.
“All in all, I don’t know why people want to make the one team a favourite and the other an underdog. I don’t think it really changes anything.
“The way Scotland have been building towards this, and when I look at their squad, they have an average age of about 28 and about 38 Test matches per player. So that is a lekker squad.
“I think we will have to be firing on all cylinders to make sure that we get through this one.”
South Africa will open their World Cup campaign on Sunday when they face Scotland at Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Kickoff is at 5.45pm.
