The Japan Times - Erasmus wants to 'fix' his Lansdowne Road jinx

The 53-year-old says Ireland are a "force to be reckoned with" but is counting on the side he named on Thursday to deliver a first win in Dublin since 2012.

Erasmus came up short twice at Lansdowne Road when he was coach of Irish province Munster -- they lost in the 2017 Champions Cup semi-finals to Saracens and that season's Pro12 final to Scarlets -- and then lost 19-16 to Ireland three years ago.

Erasmus, who did win a Test at Lansdowne Road as a player, said the Springbok run of three defeats in Dublin since the 2012 victory was on their minds.

"Oh, it definitely comes up. I'm not going to lie to you and say it doesn't come up," he said at his press conference after naming the team.

"I did win here as a player but that was many years ago. So that doesn't count and it wasn't at Lansdowne Road.

"Me personally, I haven't won at Lansdowne Road as a coach, even with Munster.

"So it's almost as if you want to fix something that can never be done.

"I want to fix this. No, it's not revenge."

- 'Achievement' -

Erasmus, whose side have won 11 of their 13 games so far this year, said failure to beat the Irish will not go down well.

"If we don't get it right, we'll get a lot of flak," he said.

Erasmus has recalled most of the players who sat out last Saturday's 32-14 victory over Italy -- achieved, like the win over France the previous weekend, with the Springboks reduced to 14 men for a large part of the match.

In one change from the squad that beat France, Ruan Nortje is promoted from the replacements bench to the starting lineup in place of suspended lock Lood de Jager.

In the backline, Canan Moodie switches from centre against Italy to wing to fill the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who returned to South Africa after suffering a concussion last week.

Erasmus, who has guided the Boks to successive World Cup triumphs first as head coach in 2019 then as director of rugby in 2023, said his side were yet to play consistently "brilliant rugby," this year.

"There were big Test matches (this year) and some that were easier, some with red cards and so on," he said.

"I guess we've never always played brilliant rugby. Never. There were times when we played horrible rugby.

"So, it would be great if we go into this match and we play really, really well to our standards.

"But then we also know if Ireland play really well to their standards, it will still be a close game.

"So yes, we would love to win this game. We would love to say we had a great season, we beat Ireland in Dublin, which we haven't done since I've been involved."

Saturday's game will be a landmark for Leinster lock RG Snyman, who will win his 50th cap if he comes on in his 'home city'.

"He's a great player and team man, and had it not been for injuries along the way, he would have probably earned 50 caps a while ago," said Erasmus.

"He deserves this achievement, and it speaks volumes about the quality of the player he is."

Team (15-1)

Damian Willemse; Canan Moodie, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach; Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt); Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth; Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Boan Venter

Replacements: Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Andre Esterhuizen, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok

Coach: Rassie Erasmus (RSA)

T.Kobayashi--JT