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Rassie Erasmus insists Steve Borthwick is a coach under pressure as South Africa look to inflict further misery on England at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
England are playing to avoid a fifth successive defeat when they host the all-conquering back-to-back world champions with Borthwick’s win rate for his 26 games in charge now 50 per cent.
The Rugby Football Union insists Borthwick has its “100 per cent full support” despite the last-gasp losses to New Zealand and Australia that have soured the autumn.
England took South Africa to the wire with a safety-first kicking game in last year’s World Cup semi-final and Erasmus suspects Borthwick will fall back on tactics that have been effective in the past.
“When you lose two games, even if it’s by a point or last-minute try, the pressure does start to build. I’ve been there and certainly know how quickly that can get to you. Now Steve is a bit under pressure,” the Springboks’ head coach said.
“Then one normally falls back on to what works for you. They’ve been successful like that in the past, so we very much expect them to try and squeeze us with the kicking game.”
When you lose two games, even if it’s by a point or last-minute try, the pressure does start to build. I’ve been there and certainly know how quickly that can get to you. Now Steve is a bit under pressure
Rassie Erasmus on Steve Borthwick
When asked about the human toll taken on a coach under pressure, Erasmus said: “We have been on that side.
“Two or three years ago we lost three on the trot. It was almost four on the trot. It depends on the men in the room, the management. It depends on your CEO – they can make you feel like you have got a gun against your head.
“If you put pressure on coaches it is not nice and you tend to make emotional decisions. But Steve is too smart to do that. Sometimes you try to please them a bit, but I don’t think he is that kind of man.
“Hopefully the environment around him is for him to believe in what he is doing, Hopefully he will get the win next weekend (against Japan).”
