By Mubeen Mohamed
With a series victory against England in the bag, South Africa goes into their seventh Rugby Championship this year with lots of hope and positivity.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 09: Damian Willemse during the Springbok Open Training Session and Fan Engagement at Belhar Rugby Club on August 09, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
In my opinion Rassie Erasmus charges must end second in the Rugby Championship if they are going to be challenging for the Rugby World Cup next year in Japan.
More importantly they will need to get four wins out of their respective six matches.
I predict they will beat the Pumas and Wallabies both home and away.
The Wallabies battled to beat Ireland in the June series with their forwards struggling to dominate in the set pieces (scrums and line-outs) and also failing to close out games.
The Australian Super Rugby franchises have battled this year with only the Waratahs making the semis.
On top of that Wallaby coach Michael Cheika is under pressure from the Aussie media and bosses who are becoming increasingly impatient as the Wallabies have not won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002.
They also have not won the Rugby Championship since the shortened version (World Cup Year) in 2015 .
The Pumas will be better prepared this year with Mario Ledesma as the new head coach.
The former Argentinian hooker was the head coach of the Jaguares in Super Rugby this year.
They managed to beat New Zealand and Australian franchises away from home in their own backyard. This should no doubt be a great confidence booster for them.
In my opinion the Pumas still battle to play 80 minutes. However, I feel you can expect a better more organised Pumas side that will be much more competitive.
The All Blacks on the other hand are not the World Champions for nothing. They will obviously be the Boks greatest challenge this year.
As much as South African fans hate to lose against the Kiwis, I think this will be the acid test for Rassie Erasmus’s charges. I believe the Springboks will lose both encounters against them. However it will not be runaway victories like last year.
The Springboks have real quality and depth in the forwards but their real weakness lies in the backline with the lack of quality and experience especially in the midfield and out wide.
Rassie Erasmus should not be afraid to try out new players and build depth. He must continue to transform the team to reach that goal of 50% black representation at next years World Cup in Japan.
In order for them to stand a realistic chance they will have to start winning test matches on a more regular basis to build confidence and belief.
This year’s Rugby Championship can therefore be seen as a dress rehearsal for next years showpiece in in the Land of the Rising Sun.
