Australian pundit Matt Williams has praised Rassie Erasmus for a bold tactical move that helped the Springboks overpower Ireland in Dublin.
A long-time critic of the Boks’ forward-heavy approach and famous Bomb Squad, Williams admitted Erasmus got it spot-on as the world champions smashed Ireland at the Aviva Stadium – their first win in the Irish capital since 2012.
South Africa’s scrum was the decisive weapon, with Erasmus replacing starting props Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit just before half-time and unleashing Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw to devastating effect.
Speaking on Off The Ball, the former Scotland coach said Ireland’s collapse at scrum time left referee Matthew Carley with “no option” but to repeatedly penalise the hosts.
“On the night I was like everyone else, throwing your hands up, but in the cold light of day afterwards you go through it and they put the referee in a position where he didn’t have a choice,” Williams said.
He pointed to Ireland’s alarming spike in ill-discipline.
“From 2021 to the World Cup in 2023, Ireland got three yellow cards in 29 matches. From the World Cup to this last game – 22 matches – they’ve had 19 yellow cards and three reds. That is a staggering statistic.”
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Williams said Ireland’s discipline “was disastrous” because of the pressure the Boks applied.
The turning point, he argued, was lock James Ryan’s 20-minute red card for a dangerous cleanout on Malcolm Marx.
“You cannot take on the best team in the world without 15 guys on the field and you get a ripple effect,” he said.
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He also questioned Ireland’s bench makeup.
“I felt not having a second row on the bench was significant … A specialist second-rower is a specialist second-rower, and a lot of times in scrums we blame the props without saying, ‘What is the power behind them?’”
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But it was Erasmus’ aggressive half-time gamble that most impressed him.
“The Boks were already dominant, and in the 39th minute seeing two replacement props go on, you go, ‘that’s crazy’ – but then you go, ‘no, it’s genius’,” Williams said. “From that one sequence of play, it could have been three sin-bins for that scrum.”
Photo: Brendan Moran/Getty Images
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