Schmidt can make Wallabies competitive against Lions, says Erasmus

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has backed Joe Schmidt to lead Australia into next year's high-profile Test series against the British and Irish Lions despite making a mixed start to his tenure with the Wallabies.

Erasmus' Springboks handed the Australians a 30-12 defeat on Saturday in Perth as Schmidt endured a second loss in five matches since replacing Eddie Jones.

But while Australia's record so far has raised questions over their hopes of success against the Lions, Erasmus dismissed concerns that the Wallabies would not be ready for their high-profile visitors next year.

“A week in rugby is long,” Erasmus said. “We saw New Zealand losing to Argentina [last week] and now have given them a proper hiding.

“You can't take out the fact there are key players injured, you can't take out the fact there's new coaching staff. The Lions are only next year.

“You [have to] get the right people on board, which I think Joe is, and you get the right players on-board. I do think they'll be competitive with Joe Schmidt as their coach.”

While Erasmus gave Schmidt his backing, the Springboks coach believes his side's upcoming Rugby Championship tests against New Zealand in South Africa will provide his team with a greater challenge than their matchups with Australia.

South Africa comfortably won both fixtures and will face the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town after Scott Robertson's side bounced back from an opening loss against Argentina to defeat the Pumas 42-10 in Auckland on Saturday.

“It's another step up, just because Joe Schmidt is new in the role here and he has to find his feet and get to know all the players and how Australian rugby works,” said Erasmus. “It takes some time.

“It will be a much tougher challenge, and that's no disrespect to Australia, it's just because of where Australia now are and they're in a rebuilding phase.

“The All Blacks, I saw last week when they lost a lot of people had a lot of stuff to say, but they knuckled down and said they'd show you guys today. They got proper points on against Argentina.

“We play them at altitude and then in Cape Town...so it's almost a miniseries against the All Blacks and we're in for a tough two weeks.”

Schmidt is bracing himself for another major challenge when he takes the Wallabies to Argentina later this month.

Schmidt saw his side handed a 30-12 defeat in Perth on Saturday, one week after opening their campaign with a loss against the world champions, and the coach knows more challenges lie ahead when the Wallabies travel to South America.

“One of the things about this competition is it's not going to get any easier,” said Schmidt.

“We play three of the four [World Cup] semi-finalists and we weren't one of them. It doesn't get easier going to Argentina next.

“They've demonstrated how tough they can be to beat when they toppled the All Blacks and didn't even give them a bonus point.”

Schmidt's side will play twice against a Pumas side that opened their own campaign with victory over New Zealand in Wellington last week before being brought back down to earth by Scott Robertson's side on Saturday in Auckland.

The Wallabies, meanwhile, put on a battling display against a much-changed Springboks side but trailed 11-9 at the interval before Erasmus introduced his experienced players from the bench.

World Cup-winning hooker Malcolm Marx crossed twice in the second half as South Africa opened up an unassailable lead, the world champions eventually sealing a comfortable win in the rain.

“We didn't die wondering,” Schmidt said. “We chanced our arm a few times in pretty tough conditions.”

Reuters