Erasmus looks on bright side ahead of World Cup

Success-hungry South Africans hate losing but when it happens the Springboks always take it squarely on the chin, SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus says.

Despite defeats against Ireland and France, Erasmus says there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Springboks ahead of next year’s World Cup. The wounded Boks are facing a tough encounter against a resurgent Italian side in Genoa on Saturday (kickoff 3pm SA time).

Erasmus was in a reflective mood when as he tried to put perspective on the Boks’ early tour losses.

“South Africans love winning and we fully take it on the chin when we lose,” he said. “We get it that people get upset. In our supporters’ view losing is bad and in our view it is bad. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel looking towards the World Cup.

“When we analyse the teams we see the French team is really building up well towards the World Cup. We see Italy is ticking a few boxes by beating Wales and Australia.

“If you look at it in a non-emotional way, are you getting solutions and answers? I don’t want to say we are always learning. People get tired if you say you are learning.

“We certainly know what to expect if we get France in the World Cup quarterfinals. That game in Marseille, we thought could have gone either way with the red cards and everything that was involved there adding some spice and making it interesting.

“The French crowd was immense and the pressure was fantastic. Players learnt to kick under pressure where they previously would not have had that experience. They can bottle that experience and take it to the World Cup.

“Losing two games in a row is not great, but I think the answers we got from some players and knowing what we can do in our pool games [is a positive]. “We play the All Blacks regularly and we played France in a cauldron which is really intimidating and the boys handled themselves fairly well.”

Jasper Wiese (No 8) returns to a Springbok starting line-up to face Italy which features new lock and centre pairings for Saturday’s match. He was a late withdrawal from the match against France in Marseille last week and will take over from Kwagga Smith, who will start among the replacements.

Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber also handed starts to locks Salmaan Moerat and Marvin Orie, with Lood de Jager having returned home with a shoulder injury and Eben Etzebeth dropping to the bench.

André Esterhuizen comes is in at inside centre in a new-look midfield pairing with Damian de Allende, who switches to outside centre in place of Jesse Kriel.

The other positional switch sees Franco Mostert move from lock to flanker in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit, who is awaiting a disciplinary decision for a red card received against France for cleaning out a ruck dangerously.

No 8 Evan Roos, meanwhile, will feature on the replacements bench alongside forwards Etzebeth, Smith and the front row of Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch (both props) and Malcolm Marx (hooker) in a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench.

Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf) and Manie Libbok (utility back), in turn, will provide backline cover, with Libbok able to cover flyhalf, centre, wing and fullback.