Erasmus – who played in the Springboks team that inflicted the only other bigger margin of Welsh defeat, the 96-12 record loss of 1998 - insisted that dramatic turnarounds are possible even after the darkest days.
Erasmus, who guided the Springboks from crisis to World Cup glory in just 18 months during his first spell in charge, pointed directly to South Africa’s own past humiliations as proof that Wales can recover under Steve Tandy.
“When we took over in 2018, we were sixth in the world and we had lost 57-0 to New Zealand, but things changed quickly,” said Erasmus.
“We were in that situation. People were burning the jersey.
“But I knew things would change from where we were and in 2019 we won the World Cup. So anything’s possible.”
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Erasmus’s comments came after South Africa delivered an almost routime thrashing of an inexperienced Wales team who have now lost 20 of their last 22 matches.
Yet Erasmus insisted that Wales should not be completely written off for good, despite their dramatic two-year decline.
“There’s so many guys who have a lot of experience and when you lose like 15 guys, all of a sudden out of the mix, it takes a bit of time to recover.
“So, I think eventually somewhere they’ll be back.
“The Wales people . . . they fight till the end. They’ve got a great coach and they will come right.”
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Asked what he had said to Welsh players after the final whistle, Erasmus again returned to the theme of revival from the dpeths of despair.
“Things change very quickly sometimes. If you can get one or two wins and get a little bit of a roll-on, things will change.
“You’ve played 22 games and you’ve lost 20. It’s something that’s very difficult to get out of but the players have the fight.
“I don’t know their players and staff well enough to give solutions, but I know things can change quickly.”
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The man at the top of the Welsh Rugby Union structure – chairman Richard Collier-Keywood – has said he felt embarrassed by the extent of the defeat, but has no plans of resigning.
Collier-Keywood was speaking at the WRU AGM, where the clubs had been given just 36 hours notice of the 148-page report – a timespan that included Satyurday’s international match.
"I felt very disappointed, very upset, it was hard to take," he said.
"I was embarrassed, yes. Any Welsh person sitting there would have been embarrassed.
"It was as bad as my worst expectations. Inevitably you go into games and think about a range of potential outcomes and that was probably at the worst end.
"I was concerned about the boys out on the field, it was clearly a massive mismatch and shows you how far we have got to go."
When asked whether he was still the right person to lead the WRU, Collier-Keywood replied: "Yes, I am.
"It's obviously subject to the board and the clubs agreeing with that."
