Erasmus is publicly managing expectations around the Greatest Rivalry series, and it sounds deliberate. Speaking ahead of the Argentina Test, he framed the four-Test tour as a building exercise — warning against peaking in game one and signalling that the Boks will look to crescendo into the crunch matches rather than come out of the blocks at full throttle. With mid-week franchise matches adding load across the tour, and World Cup squad planning explicitly on the table, Erasmus is treating this as a five-Test block with a long-term arc. His read on the series outcome is equally measured: a 4-0 whitewash is off the table for either side, and both teams know it.