Justin Marshall: Springboks have achieved everything but Rassie Erasmus will want one more thing in his trophy cabinet
Springboks fly-half Handre Pollard and an inset of head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Former scrum-half Justin Marshall believes that Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks will be itching to get a win over the All Blacks at Eden Park.
Since returning to South Africa to head up the Springboks, Erasmus has enjoyed immense success helping the team win back-to-back Rugby World Cups, two Rugby Championship trophies and a British and Irish Lions series.
However, he has won just once on New Zealand soil and has picked up a draw with both results coming in Wellington.
The Boks have struggled in Auckland, though, and now have the opportunity to end the All Blacks’ unbeaten run of 50 Tests at Eden Park, a ground that 12 different nations have visited but failed to beat New Zealand since 1994.
It’s the first opportunity that the men in green and gold get to hand their rivals a defeat at the venue in 12 years, having last visited the ground in 2013.
Marshall believes that there isn’t much left for the Boks to achieve at the highest level, with the All Blacks‘ record proving to be a real carrot for Erasmus and his charges.
Eden Park carrot
He feels that defending the record won’t weigh on the All Blacks’ shoulders ahead of the round three fixture in the Rugby Championship but will motivate the visitors.
“I don’t think it will weigh on them. Look, they’ll be aware of it because you can’t hide from it. Everybody reminds you during the week about that record, and so that’s just part of prep,” he said on the Breakdown show.
“But they’re better than that. I feel it’s probably more motivational for Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks because it’s the one box that an international team hasn’t been able to tick in a very long time.
“They’ve achieved everything. Back-to-back World Cup champions, number one team in the world, up until a couple of weeks ago, there aren’t many things in the game they haven’t been able to do.
“He would love to have that in his trophy cabinet. We were the team that finally broke the All Blacks down at Eden Park.”
Fellow former All Black Jeff Wilson agreed with Marshall, adding: “I don’t think they misunderstand what the challenge will be. They’ll be prepared for it.”
Springboks to slow the game down
Speaking to the media on Monday, Erasmus confirmed that it is a motivating factor for South Africa, but added that playing New Zealand in New Zealand is motivation enough for the Boks.
“We know the record at Eden Park, and I really don’t think that can motivate us more. For us to play New Zealand in New Zealand, number one and two in the world currently, there isn’t really anything else that can motivate you more,” he said.
“People make a hell of a hype about that, but internally, you can’t get more motivated when you play New Zealand, in New Zealand.”
Springboks’ record at Eden Park as Rassie Erasmus’ men look to end 88-year hoodoo
Meanwhile, former All Blacks fly-half Stephen Donald predicts that the Springboks will utilise similar tactics they used to defeat the Wallabies in Cape Town against Scott Robertson’s charges.
Handre Pollard returned to the starting XV for the meeting in the Mother City as South Africa leaned into more kick-heavy tactics to steer the Boks to victory.
“Let’s be brutally honest, it’s not going to be a high-paced game as far as what’s going to come at us,” he said.
“South Africa are going to probably try and play it as slow as humanly possible because we know what they value and we know how they’re going to squeeze us.”
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