Springboks: Rassie Erasmus takes responsibility for Wallabies loss and admits key duo are ‘struggling with confidence’
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus (inset) and the world champions form a huddle.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has taken full responsibility for his side’s defeat in their Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Johannesburg on Saturday.
After winning all their matches en route to their 2024 triumph in the Rugby Championship, the Springboks’ title defence in the prestigious Southern Hemisphere competition started brightly as they raced into a 22-0 lead after 18 minutes.
However, things went pear-shaped after that for the world champions as Australia took control of proceedings, scoring 38 unanswered points during the rest of the match.
The Wallabies’ 38-22 bonus-point victory was a significant result as it was their first triumph in South Africa in 12 years and a first win at Ellis Park since 1963.
Later on Saturday, the All Blacks also clinched a bonus-point triumph over Argentina in Cordoba which puts them on top of the Rugby Championship table, ahead of the Wallabies by virtue of a superior points difference, while the Boks and Los Pumas are bringing up the rear in the standings.
Boks’ loss to Wallabies had similarities to win over Italy
The Springboks’ performance had similarities to their showing in their first Test against Italy earlier this year when they held a 27-3 half-time lead against the Azzurri before going off the boil in the second half, although they eventually held on for a 42-24 win.
The Springboks fielded a strong matchday squad against the Wallabies with close to their first choice starting line-up taking to the field.
After the game, Erasmus was asked if it concerns him that a trend might develop with the Boks following Saturday’s loss to Australia and their poor second-half performance against Italy and he replied: “It does. Damian (de Allende) and Cheslin (Kolbe) would have been picked but they were injured, and they’re only ready next week.
“So having Edwill (van der Merwe) in and with Andre (Esterhuizen) there, it’s not like they haven’t played together, and Chessie’s a seasoned campaigner.
“I think (Aphelele) Fassi and Damian (Willemse) are struggling a little bit with confidence, just making the right decisions. But that’s not to say they’re bad rugby players, they must just find their feet.
“It is concerning. If you’re 22-0 up, you might lose a Test match but not by 20 points so it’s very concerning, and it’s something we have to fix.
“We lost a few line-outs with sometimes just bad approach, sometimes timing, sometimes the wrong call, and we had three weeks to prepare for these (Rugby Championship) games.
‘I must point the finger straight at me’
“So I can sit here and give excuses, but I must point the finger straight at me, because I really thought we were well prepared for this game, and the effort maybe showed it, but the accuracy and the precision was not there.”
Erasmus explained that his coaching staff have as much responsibility as the players for the end result of any match.
“When a team loses like that, the coaches must be on the chopping block, the coaches must be under pressure,” he said.
“It’s not the first time that that has happened in our careers, and I don’t care if the headlines tomorrow say that.
“We’ve been in similar situations where we’ve lost with big margins against Australia and then we had to go and beat New Zealand. We terribly want to win the Rugby Championship.
“I don’t think it’s over and done and dusted. I think a lot of things can still happen. A player doesn’t go and play there just by his own devices and just do what he wants to do.
“We kind of guide them and pick the team selection when the road doesn’t go your way. Maybe combinations were wrong, maybe plans were wrong, and maybe the half-time talk was terrible.
“We led 22, I think it was seven then (22-5 lead). And they scored in four minutes three tries. And I’m not smiling because of it, but it’s more an embarrassed embarrassed smile, (if) I can call it that.”
