OPINION: Boks must find consistency on upcoming tour

Rassie Erasmus is spot on when he says the Springboks have work to do.

Yes, they are champions once again of the southern hemisphere, after winning four out of six matches in this year’s Rugby Championship, but the Boks were frustratingly inconsistent during the tournament. And this will be their biggest work-on in the coming weeks and months.

The Boks have five big Tests coming up in November, all in Europe, and they’ll be desperate to win them all, to ensure they maintain their number one ranking ahead of the 2027 World Cup draw in early December.

But, while Erasmus and Co will be happy with their recent triumph of winning back-to-back Rugby Championship titles, they’ll know they need to tighten up their game and be more clinical if they’re to ensure more success down the line.

Poor periods

If the current Boks, in the Erasmus era, are to go on to be one of the best teams to play the game they cannot allow things to happen as they did in Joburg on 16 August – conceding 38 unanswered points after being 22-0 up, to lose to the Wallabies.

They also started poorly in Auckland against the All Blacks, conceding two early tries to be on the back foot, before fighting hard only to lose 24-17. That was an opportunity missed.

Erasmus’ team should also not have allowed it to get as close as it did against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday, winning by just two points in the end (29-27). It was not a particularly good Bok performance.

Over the six matches, the Boks produced some truly average rugby at times, but also some brilliant rugby, as seen in the second half in Wellington and in Durban, and at times during the other games.

The good news though, I suppose, is that even when not at their best they have been able to out-do the All Blacks, Wallabies and Argentina.

But, the reality is the Boks have the players and depth to be better and more consistent. Let’s hope they find a ruthlessness to their game on their European tour next month and can put together some consistent high-quality 80-minute performances.