TIE ME WALLABY DOWN

RASSIE Erasmus’ Springboks desperately need to throw a monkey off their back when they start their Rugby Championship campaign against Australia in Saturday's clash at Ellis Park (5.10pm kickoff).  

South Africa enter the match as defending champions, but there’s ‘n apie whispering in their ears: “You’ve never been able to defend it”.

And Bok coach Erasmus knows that, after being part of the 1998 Tri-Nations-winning team that lost their crown in 1999 to New Zealand.

Former Bok captain John Smit and his manne then had two bites at that cherry after winning in 2004 and 2009 only for the All Blacks to reclaim the title.  

Although the Boks have won back-to-back World Cups, Erasmus admits doing it in the southern-hemisphere competition is probably one of the toughest things to do, with only the All Blacks (multiple times) and the Wallabies (2000 and 2001) being able to retain their titles.

But as always, Erasmus says hy’t ‘n plan gemaak to try and do it this time round.

And part of that plan is setting themselves mini-targets with the first being, klap the Aussies for a fifth time in a row.

Erasmus said: “We we have never been able to beat Australia five times in a row, ever. Those are some of the small things that we look at.

“They have never been able to beat us here at Ellis Park, so that will be a target for them.”

However, Erasmus hopes that setting themselves these targets does not make them sound windgat and added: “Those things we tend to keep internally, but it is nice to see what the media puts out there, spicing things up and getting the crowd and fans involved.

“However, our reality is that we are playing against a [Wallabies] team that beat the British & Irish Lions in their last encounter.

“We desperately want to win the Rugby Championship again, but we must beat Australia first, and we have never gone back-to-back, so it remains one of our small goals.

“But it is not something we choose to say out loud, because then people might say we are windgat. So, we will rather say we hope we can do it.” 

Elsewhere, in the other fixture, Argentina host the All Blacks in Cordoba at 11.10pm on Saturday.

Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (capt), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway

Meanwhile, Proteas batter Tristan Stubbs says they want to go all out in their final T20 against Australia on Saturday (11.15am start).

Following a 53-run victory in the second match on Tuesday, Aiden Markram’s manne levelled the series 1-1, setting up an exciting decider in Cairns.

Stubbs emphasised the significance of potentially securing a series win on Australian soil, calling it a moerse achievement.

Stubbs wysed: “We are really excited for the third T20. After the first result, we did well to bounce back in the second match, which has set up a great series decider.”

The final match moves from Darwin to Cazalys Stadium in Cairns, where Stubbs noted the change in playing conditions — particularly the natural pitch and windy weather — could influence the game.

Reflecting on the second T20, Stubbs praised teammate Dewald Brevis, who scored an unbeaten 125 in a jitz performance. Stubbs contributed a solid 31 runs and described watching Brevis’ innings from the non-striker’s end as a privilege.

He added: “I said to the umpire during the game that we have the best seat in the house. My job was just to get him on strike, and then to enjoy the show he managed to put on.”

Stubbs also highlighted Brevis’ confidence and how it bodes well for the team, especially with the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.