The message from the Springboks’ Director of Rugby to coach Rassie Erasmus is simple; lose to the All Blacks and you’re out.
As the Springboks gear up to face New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, Erasmus knows he is not the flavour of the week back home in South Africa after they lost 23-18 to Australia last weekend.
Without an away win since he took charge of the team at the start of the season, and with a win percentage of only 43 percent (three wins from seven matches), Erasmus is putting the heat on himself as he continues to juggle the roles of director and coach.
As director, it seems that he reckons a coach’s time would be running out by now.
Of the importance of a positive result against New Zealand, Erasmus says: “Probably just for me to survive it’s fairly important, but that’s beside the point.
“If we can beat the All Blacks here, everybody will think we have a realistic chance of winning the World Cup next year. People will say there’s growth.”
However, he adds: “If I’m here or not, I want the next coach who goes to the World Cup to have a squad who’s representative of South Africa, who’s got enough experience, who’s gone through tough times in New Zealand and Australia.
“This is the ultimate test to see where we are. Did we actually improve in the last six matches or are we getting worse?”