Erasmus has been bringing through a new generation of Springboks this year, with 14 players who did not feature in their last World Cup success, where they turned winning knockout matches into an art form with single-point victories in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
One of those was an epic 29-28 win over France in Paris, and Erasmus will be able to reproduce those conditions, though admittedly without the enormous pressure that knockout rugby brings.
The Springboks take on Japan at Wembley Stadium in London on November 1 before meeting France a week later. They tackle Italy in Turin on November 15 before the latest instalment of their burgeoning grudge match with Ireland on November 22. They finish the tour against Wales in Cardiff a week later.
Erasmus will be especially interested to see how his side shapes up against France and Ireland.
“Those matches could be like a semi-final and final situation, to see if we can be successful on the year-end tour,” Erasmus said. “It’s a longer tour than usual and we are facing top-class opposition, but we are looking forward to it.
“Ireland and France are currently ranked third and fourth in the world, while Italy, Wales and Japan are in 10th, 12th and 13th place, and we’ve seen in the last few years that you cannot write off any team.
“Ireland and France are always tough opposition, and they both won four out of their five Six Nations matches, with France emerging as the eventual champions, and we know how challenging it is to beat them both at home.”
Erasmus admits it has been an up-and-down season for his side in terms of performances, but they did retain their Rugby Championship crown and have been getting better as the year goes on.
“We have delivered a few good performances but also a few disappointing ones this season, so this will be a good opportunity to test ourselves and see if we can build consistency from week to week,” he said. “That said, it is going to take a massive effort, and we are excited about the tour.”
