Rassie Erasmus has followed his decision to bring forward his next Springboks team announcement in New Zealand by posting a social media message about his heart rate.
South Africa’s hopes of shattering the All Blacks’ formidable unbeaten run at Eden Park, which stretched back to 1994, came unstuck on Saturday in a thrilling 17-24 loss.
The Rugby Championship Round Three match finished with the Springboks hammering away in the New Zealand 22 in the hope of scoring the converted try that would have snatched them a draw.
However, they were ultimately denied thanks to an incredible breakdown intervention from Ardie Savea and the focus has now turned to how South Africa will go about getting revenge in next Saturday’s Round Four rematch in Wellington.
“Pretend to be calm…”
Rather than wait until Tuesday to name his team as originally scheduled, Erasmus has opted to bring forward that announcement to Monday in the hope of nipping in the bud all the speculation about his players following Saturday loss in Auckland.
Erasmus has also taken to X, the social media platform formally known at Twitter, to make a curious point about the Eden Park defeat.
“Does not help to pretend to be calm in the coaches box!! Your heart does not lie,” he wrote in a message accompanied by a screenshot of his heart rate counter throughout the game.
The post, which so far has had nearly 70,000 views, was liked by just short of 1,500 fans and generated more than 130 responses.
Does not help to pretend to be calm in the coaches Box!! Your heart does not lie 🙉 pic.twitter.com/xl1xWI2UJb
— Johan Erasmus (@RassieRugby) September 7, 2025
South Africa came into the 2025 Rugby Championship with high hopes of retaining the title they won in 2024 with five wins in six matches, but their campaign this term has proven difficult.
At the halfway point, they have already lost twice in three matches and next Saturday’s Round Four rematch with leaders New Zealand is effectively a win or bust game for their title retention bid.
The Springboks endured a horror second half in Round One at home to Australia in Johannesburg, seeing a 22-0 lead dissolve into a 22-38 defeat, and they needed a 73rd minute try from Eben Etzebeth in Cape Town to seal their 30-22 Round Two over the Wallabies.
Their hopes of snapping the All Blacks’ unbeaten Eden Park run were then undermined by a sluggish start where they went 0-14 down in Auckland before second half tries from Malcolm Marx and Cobus Reinach secured them a losing bonus point.
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