The Springboks coach was on good form ahead of the match in Cardiff on SaturdayRassie Erasmus, the South Africa head coach(Image: Getty Images)

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has told Steve Tandy where Wales could target his Springboks side ahead of Saturday’s Test in Cardiff.

Erasmus’ side arrive in the Welsh capital as red-hot favourites, having swept aside Japan, France, Italy and Ireland this autumn after lifting the Rugby Championship earlier in the year. Even with a number of changes to the side that won in Dublin, the Boks are able to put out a formidable side packed with world-class talent.

The back-to-back world champions’ bench has more caps than the entire Wales matchday squad. That’s the task facing Tandy on Saturday, with the Wales coach without 13 of his English and French-based stars.

However, Tandy has received some help from an unlikely source – with Erasmus explaining how he would target his own Springboks team were he coaching another nation.

Whereas most coaches would sidestep such a question, Erasmus – box office as he is – is more than happy to point out the areas he would focus on.

“Well, with this one (team) here specifically, I think it’s a solid starting pack,” he said on Thursday. “I know the guys on their bench is also one cap, zero cap, zero caps.

“But we’ve got two caps, two caps… OK then there’s Eben (Etzebeth) with 140 caps! Then there’s six caps, and so on.

“But Zach (Porthen) is covering loosehead. I think they will target him. Zach is a tighthead and we’re taking a chance on him as a loosehead with only two caps.

“So that’s why we put Bongi there. He’s a really experienced player. I know Steve. We’re not close personal friends, but I know the detail he puts into opposition, analysing what they do on defence, what they do in attack, what they do in the breakdown.

“And hell, if you go and watch the (New Zealand) game, at 50 minutes it was 24-21 and they almost broke away with that one try. I know Wales has an underbelly where there’s fire there.

“And he’s a good coach. Maybe the youthfulness of their team means they’ll say ‘What do we have to lose? Let’s throw the ball around. Let’s put the thing up in the air. Let’s get the ball in and out of the scrum’.

“Quick tap. I think they’re going to speed it up a hell of a lot, because we’ve got some heavy boys in the starting line-up, and if I was them, I would really try and speed up the game. That’s my guess.”

Erasmus has a chequered history against Wales. He was part of the Springboks side that hammered Wales 96-13 in the summer of 1998, but he also featured in the 29-19 defeat in Cardiff a year later – the first time Wales had beaten South Africa.

As a coach, his first game in charge of South Africa was a defeat to Wales in Washington.

Many fear the scoreboard on Saturday could be closer to the 1998 game than the 1999 one. However, Erasmus has played that prospect down.

While he admitted he didn’t know “how physical they’ll stay” over the course of the 80 minutes, he added that he didn’t expect Wales to give up easily.

“We lost to them a year later, that’s how crazy it is,” he said. “It was a depleted Wales side, a bit like a B team with a lot of injuries.

“I don’t think it’s going to be anything like that in two days’ time. I think it’s going to be a grind. And what do these guys have to lose other than manning up, putting a marker down and saying here we are against the Springboks.

“I think that’s what this Wales team is going to do. I played in that game but then the next year we lost. So that’s how quickly it changed. I can’t remember much about that 98 game.”

A challenge from Wales is something Erasmus expects, having previously been full of praise for the toughness of the rugby nation. Once again, Erasmus was complimentary of the “Welsh psyche”.

Perhaps, in previous years, Erasmus might have engaged in more mind games were Wales on the same level as South Africa. That’s just a reminder of how far they have fallen in recent years.

“I’ve always found the Italians, the Welsh and the Argentines as the kind of people who don’t give up,” added Erasmus. “I don’t understand what is going on in the Welsh set up, I do not understand the politics and what works and what doesn’t work.

“I enjoy the Welsh culture, I love the horses in front of the bus, I like the band, I like how they make the build-up, it’s always been a nice fixture, since 2018 we’ve been coming here regularly, we hope to win the game and fly home with our heads high, but the Welsh will certainly try and stop us.

“I love the Wales setup. Even though I was part of the team that first lost to Wales, for me there’s something about the Welsh people.

“I’m not sucking up. I said it about Argentina and Italy. There’s not a lot of people here. But if you go outside, you see some things of South Africa.

“Not everybody is wealthy and living a fantastic life, but they’re grinders. I can’t tell you about the structures and politics, but I can name so many players – like Dan Biggar – or the guys I played against – Mark Taylor ran over me in 1999.

“When I coached Munster, the Scarlets were tough, tough games to play. I just think whatever’s wrong off the field – I don’t know what it is – you certainty have the guts, the players and the willpower.

“That will come right. I don’t know what’s wrong there. We need a strong Welsh team. They just have the tradition of loving to play the game.”

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