Rassie Erasmus bemoans wasted chances
South Africa‘s failure to finish off their chances and ill-discipline, which resulted in crucial penalties for England, cost them Saturday’s match at Twickenham.
That was the word from Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus after the Test which the home side won 12-11 in a tightly fought battle played before a capacity crowd in London.
The home side’s fly-half and co-captain, Owen Farrell, delivered a flawless goal-kicking display and slotted three penalties, while Elliot Daly (full-back) was on target with a long-range penalty.
Springbok right wing Sbu Nkosi scored the only try of the match in the first-half, while Handré Pollard succeeded with two penalty goals. The Bok fly-half also hit the right upright late in the match from another penalty attempt.
The Springboks were especially dominant in the first-half, when they had the advantage in territory and scoring opportunities. They failed to capitalise though.
“The two things which we didn’t do well was to finish our opportunities and our discipline,” said Erasmus.
“It doesn’t matter how you look at it, if you don’t finish off your opportunities and give away too many penalties, you will lose the Test match.”
Erasmus was also frustrated by the missed line-out opportunities when the Springboks were on the front foot.
“The line-outs were frustrating for me,” he said.
“(England lock Maro) Itoje was off with a yellow card and I thought we made the right call to opt for the line-outs instead of kicking for goal.”
Erasmus said he was pleased with the performances of Damian Willemse at full-back and Ivan van Zyl at scrum-half. Willemse made his first start for the team while Van Zyl only had one previous start in the number nine jersey.
“For them, a match such as this one is a great learning curve and playing in those decision making positions, I think they did well,” said Erasmus.
Eben Etzebeth left the field early with a foot injury and was replaced at lock by RG Snyman. Erasmus is not expecting his most experienced player to be ready to face France next week.
“We will have to do a proper medical check on Eben but it seems like he is out for the next game,” he added.
The Springboks travel to Paris on Sunday and will play France next Saturday evening at the Stade de France.
