{"id":3011,"date":"2022-11-26T10:55:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T10:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/england-v-south-africa-spectre-of-absent-rassie-erasmus-sets-mood-at-twickenham\/"},"modified":"2022-11-26T10:55:03","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T10:55:03","slug":"england-v-south-africa-spectre-of-absent-rassie-erasmus-sets-mood-at-twickenham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/england-v-south-africa-spectre-of-absent-rassie-erasmus-sets-mood-at-twickenham\/","title":{"rendered":"England v South Africa: Spectre of absent Rassie Erasmus sets mood at Twickenham"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/span><\/span>
Erasmus has been a fixture at Springboks training this week, but is unable to take part in the matchday set-up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<\/thead>\n\n\n\n
Venue:<\/strong> Twickenham Stadium <\/span>Date: <\/strong>Saturday, 26 November <\/span>Kick-off: <\/strong>17:30 GMT<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Coverage: <\/strong>Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app, updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

“Not sure I would know what to say to any other team before a World Cup final.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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With those words, Rassie Erasmus first appeared on Twitter back in February 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

His debut post<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span><\/a> was accompanied by footage of the rousing pre-game pep talk he had given in the depths of the Yokohama International Stadium three months before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duly inspired, the Springboks, after pedestrian wins over Japan and Wales in previous rounds, swept past England to win the Rugby World Cup final 32-12.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the teams prepare to meet again on Saturday, three years and 190-odd posts later, Erasmus still sets the mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Africa’s director of rugby and content creator-in-chief won’t be at Twickenham. Instead he is serving out the second week <\/span>of a fortnight’s ban<\/span><\/a> from the Springbok matchday set-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

His suspension was imposed for his less edifying, but now more regular, social media output – a string of tweets highlighting refereeing calls against his team.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were, Erasmus claims, intended to open up discussion and understand the game better.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are already extensive backchannels for dialogue with referees. As Erasmus well knows.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance: Last July, after South Africa had lost the first of their three Tests against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town, Australian referee Nic Berry received a video detailing a series of decisions the Springbok staff were unhappy with. Within half an hour, Berry emailed Erasmus.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I received your clips, thank you,” Berry wrote, offering to meet with Erasmus to review his own performance. Berry also replied <\/span>with thoughts on every one of the 36 calls in question.<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The video leaked online shortly after, spreading rancour through the British and Irish Lions tour. An independent disciplinary committee rejected Erasmus’ claim he was not responsible for publicly releasing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, it feels that Erasmus’ public show this autumn must have a particular, private audience in mind, the same that took in his speech in Yokohama: the Springboks themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it seems to be working. <\/span><\/p>\n

Test rugby’s top cats carry themselves like underdogs. Any swagger they might have picked up for their World Cup win has been chased out of town by a new siege mentality. That rumble? It is a returning hunger to prove the world wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Head coach Jacques Nienaber appeared in front of the media earlier this week. He said that the full truth over Erasmus’ ban wasn’t yet public. He claimed there is a false narrative being spun about his team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mind games? Well, it may just be the motivation South Africa need.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Springboks are not the team they were in 2019. And neither are England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smarter, slicker operators won’t be bullied out of games any more. Brawn and brain need to be deployed in equal measure. <\/span><\/p>\n

The rankings have South Africa and England fourth and fifth in the world respectively. Neither have broken a 50% win rate for the autumn so far. <\/span><\/p>\n

Both are searching for solutions and additions to their game in time for France 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nienaber bristled at the stereotype of his team, who scored 20 tries in six Rugby Championship games earlier this year, as collision connoisseurs and little else.<\/span><\/p>\n

He’s right.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, they have electric pace out wide to compete with stalwarts Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Evan<\/span><\/span>
Evan Roos made his Springbok debut against Wales earlier this year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Evan Roos, who wins his third cap at Twickenham, is a number eight of startling speed. Damian Williamse, who starts at 10, has a scintillating running game that was never part of 2019 fly-half Handre Pollard’s armoury.<\/span><\/p>\n

England’s Eddie Jones, himself more than happy to take the heat of the spotlight in the build-up to a big game, has had an unusually minor role in the days leading up to this one.<\/span><\/p>\n

He joked that Erasmus might <\/span>emulate football manager Jose Mourinho<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span><\/a> by popping out of a Twickenham laundry basket to rally his team. He said his England wanted to “light up” Twickenham with the spirit that infused their comeback against the All Blacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

But he hasn’t made the hay you might expect from the controversy surrounding the Boks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead Jones has concentrated on adding to the toolkit of a team whose first instinct has been to reach for the sledgehammer.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has brought back Tommy Freeman, who alongside Freddie Steward and Jonny May, makes up a pacey back three, who are equally comfortable under the high ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/span><\/span>
Tommy Freeman is one of four changes to the England starting line-up that drew with New Zealand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saracens’ pair Mako Vunipola and Jamie George bring some all-court ability to the starting front row, with Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie on the bench, ready to counter the Springboks’ famed ‘bomb squad’ replacements.<\/span><\/p>\n

This fixture, which, incidentally, at the same point in the last World Cup cycle, prompted Erasmus to stage a ‘training’ session <\/span>teaching his team how to hit as high as Owen Farrell<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span><\/a>, will be a balancing act. <\/span><\/p>\n

How much do you prioritise victory and the confidence it brings? How much do you focus on fine-tuning new shapes and styles from the training pitch?<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideal is you achieve both. The danger is you manage neither, fall between two stools and end the autumn on a deflating bum note.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that case, for either team, the debrief would be brutal. With or without Erasmus’ tweets.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n