Erasmus sends cheeky dig at Ireland describing them as "second best team in the world"

Rassie Erasmus, Coach of South Africa inspects the pitch prior to the Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Stade de France on October 28, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Steele - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

South Africa's Rassie Erasmus has humorously claimed that his side is ready for Ireland, who are ranked second in the rugby world rankings.

Ireland and South Africa will battle in two tests next month in what promises to be an excellent contest and test series.

Since Ireland beat South Africa in the Rugby World Cup pool stages, there have been a number of verbal back-and-forths between the two sides.

For example, Cheslin Kolbe went to a news channel and remarked, “There’s been a lot of hype and a lot of talk about it. Obviously, we badly wanted to beat them in the pool match at the World Cup, but they had the better of us on the day.

"So, there's a lot of excitement about Ireland in July, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves; we’ve got Wales at Twickenham, and then the focus will shift onto Ireland.

“There’s been a lot of talk about Ireland deserving to win the World Cup; we’ll see in July.”

Erasmus, who is one of rugby's great villains, has again commented on the incoming test series and claimed his side is in the right mindset ahead of their clash with Ireland. The South African also aimed a sly dig at the Irish team, describing them as the "second-best team in the world."

Rassie Erasmus (photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

“I must give credit to our head of high performance and operations team for their hard work to ensure that the week functioned as smoothly as possible despite arriving a day later than expected,” said Erasmus.

“I believe we are in the right frame of mind for the challenge ahead against the world’s No. 2-ranked team.

“We had a chance this week to analyse what we did well against Wales and the areas we need to put more emphasis on going into the Ireland Tests, and we were delighted with the professional manner in which the players made the mindset switch.”

Erasmus has also said there is “huge excitement in the group for the challenge ahead” and claims the huge win over Wales was a perfect tonic ahead of the Ireland clash.

“Everyone knows that a big step-up is required next week, but we are pleased with the momentum we built up by defeating Wales and getting international game time under the belt.

"Obviously, with new members on our coaching staff, the overseas-based players and new recruits will have some work to do to ensure the entire group is fully aligned in terms of our new structures, but this week served as a good start in that process.”

Ireland's first test against the Boks will be on Saturday, July 6, in Pretoria. Then they will head to Durban for the second and final test on Saturday, July 13.

Sky Sports will show both tests in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Ireland Squad: Summer Tour 2024:

Player/Club/Province/Caps

Forwards:

Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster) 20
Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 40
Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 50
Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 41
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 76
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 129
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 39
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Oli Jager (Munster) 1
Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster): 31
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster) 10
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (captain) 105
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 13
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 64
Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht) 3
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 62
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 26
Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster) 3
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 62

Backs:

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 56
Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht) 2
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) 14
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster) 14
Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster) 4
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 72
Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 32
James Lowe (Leinster): 31
Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 17
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 116
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster) 6
Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster) 8
Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)
Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster): 58
Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 37

* denotes uncapped player

Unavailable: Jamison Gibson-Park (hamstring injury) and Jack Conan (personal reasons).

Summer Tour 2024 Fixtures:

Saturday, July 6: South Africa vs. Ireland, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (5pm local time/4 p.m. Irish time)
Saturday, July 13: South Africa vs. Ireland, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban (5pm local time/4 p.m. Irish time).

Ireland Rugby: Summer Internationals 2024