Wallabies rout leaves Erasmus facing reality check

I'M not sure if Rassie Erasmus is familiar with the poetry of Robbie Burns, but he will grasp the drift of the famous line: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

- MIKE GREENAWAY

That is precisely what happened at Ellis Park over the weekend, where the plan the Boks produced from a three-week training camp yielded 22 wonderful points in 20 minutes, only for the scoring spree to give way to 38 unanswered points as the Wallabies roared home in the second half.

It appeared that the Boks were lured into Barbarians-style rugby and forgot that Test matches are won by first doing the hard yards.

In short, they departed from their DNA of physicality, territorial kicking and set-piece dominance, and instead did an impersonation of the Blitzboks.

To rub salt into the wounds, the Boks lost their No 1 spot in the world rankings after the All Blacks beat the Pumas in Argentina.

Coach Rassie Erasmus said he, as head coach, would take the performance on the chin. “This is probably one of the most embarrassing press conferences I've done in a while,” he said.