Rassie Erasmus has put a number on what the next month will feel like for his Springboks, and it is not a comfortable one.
With the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks opening at Ellis Park on 22 August, the world champions' coach told a media briefing after two days of training in Johannesburg that four consecutive Tests against New Zealand will demand the intensity of a World Cup run-in.
"This series is almost like playing the knockout stages of a World Cup because we are facing one of the world's best week in and week out, and we all understand the magnitude of the series," Erasmus said.
"It's a new and exciting challenge, and we have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the group of coaches and players who remained behind in South Africa in the last two weeks. We will fine-tune the areas of our game which we would like to improve next week as we get ready to take the field."
The comparison is not idle. The four Tests run at Ellis Park on 22 August, DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 29 August, FNB Stadium on 5 September and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 12 September - a schedule with no bye and no soft landing.
Erasmus's 26-man travelling squad returned from Buenos Aires in two groups on the Monday and Tuesday after the 17-10 win over Argentina, and spent most of last week on recovery and gym work rather than the training field. The full group only trained together on Friday and Saturday before being given a day and a half off.
"It was important to manage the players who travelled to Argentina well and afford them sufficient time to recover from the match and switch back into the domestic time zone, which is why we only started training as a full group late in the week," Erasmus said. Hooker Johan Grobbelaar and utility forward Elrigh Louw, released to the Bulls for Saturday's tour match, rejoined the squad on Sunday.
They rejoined it having watched the All Blacks run in eight tries at Loftus Versfeld. New Zealand's 50-19 win completed a clean sweep of South Africa's three URC heavyweights, and it left the losing coach with a specific piece of intelligence for the Boks.
Johan Ackermann, whose side conceded 24 points before half-time, was asked at the post-match press conference in Pretoria whether he had any advice for Erasmus. His answer began generously and then turned pointed.
"To be fair, obviously the Springboks are match-fit, and there's quality players, they've played a long time together, and they've got some of the best heads in the world putting a plan together," Ackermann said. "So, I think the Springboks will be well-prepared, and time will tell."
Then the caveat. "The All Blacks maybe had the scoreboard luxury tonight to try a few things from deep in their own half that I don't think they'll get away with against the Springboks. You know, that's the way they do play sometimes, but they may find themselves in a bit of trouble with that approach."
Ackermann also offered a diagnosis of his own team's failure that doubles as a template. "I think the Springboks will see that there are opportunities if you keep the ball in hand against the All Blacks, and I'm sure that they will look at the game and work on that." The Bulls, he conceded, had not been patient enough to take theirs: "I feel that if we were a little bit more patient with the ball in hand tonight, we could have finished a few opportunities, and I think hopefully the Boks will take that."
Dave Rennie, who has shifted the All Blacks away from the territorial kicking game towards a ball-in-hand approach since replacing Scott Robertson, is under no illusion about the step up either. Eleven line breaks to one at Loftus produced a scoreline he called a positive and a conversion rate he called frustrating.
"What we know is that the intensity level, the quality that we're going to come up against next week is three, four, five-fold," Rennie said. "We've played reasonably well on tour, and we know we need to up the ante."
Stand-in captain Codie Taylor, who scored twice in his 40-minute return from a calf injury, framed the three tour matches as scaffolding rather than proof. "I'm sure they're going to be asking a lot more questions come next week, and from where we started with the Stormers and built our way through these club games, I feel like we made some great strides as a forward pack, and by no means are we the finished product," Taylor said.
Two coaches, then, arriving at Ellis Park from opposite directions: one who has spent a fortnight resting bodies and warns his players it will feel like a World Cup quarter-final every Saturday, and one whose side has won six on the trot and still thinks it is short of where it needs to be.
Kick-off in Johannesburg is 17:10 local time on Saturday.
