Rassie Erasmus highlights a key Springboks flaw, predicts Wallabies backlash
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi are preparing for a backlash from the Wallabies after the visitors proved too strong in the teams’ Rugby Championship clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
Despite clinching South Africa’s first victory in the city since 2013, Erasmus and Kolisi were quick to point out that they can still improve on their performance.
South Africa started their Rugby Championship campaign in style with a convincing 33-7 victory but Erasmus is wary of the Wallabies and is expecting them to improve when the sides meet again in Perth next week.
Wary of the Wallabies
“Next week is a new Test and we want to give other players a chance, but that said we know Joe Schmidt (Australian head coach) and how he can turn things around,” said Erasmus.
“He’s only had four games with Australia, and next week is a new game and a new venue, and we are expecting a big challenge.”
Kolisi echoed Erasmus’ sentiments and expects the home side to come to the fore with a sterner challenge in Perth.
“Next week is going to be a completely different challenge and we know it will be tougher, so we need to remain focused and keep working hard,” he said.
South Africa had to make a late change to their matchday squad shortly before kick off when RG Snyman withdrew due to a foot injury. That saw Pieter-Steph du Toit shifting to lock while Ben-Jason Dixon, who was initially amongst the replacements, slotted in on the blindside flank and Salmaan Moerat came onto the bench.
“This was an important away win for us, and a special one too,” said Kolisi. “In the last few years, we didn’t start well away from home, so to get this win was special and we are really happy about earning the bonus point.
“We haven’t done well in Australia especially, so we were very focused to turn that around going into this game, even though this ground is a fortress for them, because as I said earlier in the week, we knew we couldn’t win the Castle Lager Rugby Championship here, but we could lose it here.”
Although the Springboks dominated for long periods in Brisbane, they wasted some try-scoring opportunities and their discipline let them down during the game’s closing stages when Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden and Jesse Kriel all spent time in the sin bin.
Like Kolisi, Erasmus was also delighted that his side made a winning start to the competition but expressed his dissatisfaction with his side’s discipline in the game’s dying moments.
“We are happy with the performance, but not the three yellow cards,” he said. “We also didn’t cherish the ball and look after it like a piece of gold, but at times we played with good structure and intent.
“So, we certainly don’t want to throw points away like that.”
‘It would be arrogant to say that’
Of conceding only one try, Erasmus said: “We would have liked to keep them scoreless, but it would be arrogant to say that. The reality is we wanted to come here and win, and we are delighted that we were able to do that today.”
Kolisi agreed with his coach about the missed opportunities and said: “We played well at moments, but we also left a lot of points out there.”
Although losing Snyman to injury was disruptive for the Boks, Erasmus is happy with how his team responded to that setback.
“RG picked up a foot niggle during the week and didn’t pass a fitness Test, and the plan was that Ruan (Nortje) would have started, but he also hurt his knee, so we opted to start Ben-Jason with Pieter-Steph at lock, and we thought he did well against their tall forwards.”
Despite their injuries, Erasmus revealed that Snyman and Nortje will both be available for selection for next weekend’s clash with the Wallabies at Optus Stadium in Perth.
South Africa’s squad will head to Perth on Sunday and begin their on-field preparations for the next Test on Monday.
