Rassie Erasmus on the blame for Springboks’ ‘frustrating errors’

Coach Rassie Erasmus has taken partial responsibility for the Springboks’ “frustrating errors” in their 33-7 win over the Wallabies on Saturday. South Africa put on an attacking clinic but probably should’ve scored more points during the one-side contest in Brisbane.

With a sea of green jerseys drowning out the otherwise red and yellow seats at Suncorp Stadium, the Springboks thrived on the back of the unwavering support shown by fans on a sunny afternoon in enemy territory.

Thousands of fans let out a deafening cheer just before kick-off as captain Siya Kolisi led the Springboks onto the field around 2:30 pm local time. Those same fans were left screaming once again when Kolisi scored the opening try about nine minutes into the contest.

South Africa dominated the possession and territory battles as Australia struggled to fire even a single shot at their heavily favoured rivals. But the scores remained close midway through the first half with the Boks only leading seven-nil.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu looked to have set up a certain try after breaking through the Wallabies’ defensive wall in the 19^th minute. The flyhalf passed to fullback Willie le Roux who had two players outside him and only Andrew Kellaway to beat with the try line in sight.

But le Roux went himself and was tackled by Kellaway. Pieter-Steph du Toit turned the ball over a few phases later after throwing a forward pass so no points were scored. That was one moment that had Rassie Erasmus almost cringing during the post-match press conference.

“There were many frustrating errors but us as coaches, with some of the messages that we put on or tried to get on, when a team plays really well it’s not just the players but the coaches as well, but when a team makes silly errors it’s not the players, it’s the coaches as well,” the two-time Rugby World Cup winner told reporters.

“It is a bit frustrating, not just him – I think we definitely didn’t cherish and look after the ball like it was a piece of gold for us. Sometimes it was, listen we just try something really expansive but then at times there was really good structure and intent and that’s what we want.

“We don’t want to put the fires out by saying, ‘Listen, don’t have a go and express yourself.’ But we also don’t want to throw easy tries like that away.”

The Springboks made amends shortly after le Roux’s mistake with du Toit scoring the team’s second try of the afternoon in the 23^rd minute. After Australia’s Kellaway was sent to the sin bin shortly after, the Boks rose to another level.

Winger Kurt-Lee Arendse beat multiple Wallabies defenders with sheer pace to score with about six minutes to play in the first half. The successful conversion from Feinberg-Mngomezulu gave the visitors a commanding 21-nil lead going into the sheds.

Kwagga Smith and Arendse scored a try each during the second half as the Springboks ran away to a 33-nil lead. But two yellow cards gave the hosts an advantage and they ended up scoring a consolation try through Hunter Paisami with five minutes to play.

“I think it would be arrogant to say, ‘That’s one of our targets, to keep them to zero.’ We came here (and) just wanted to win,” Erasmus reflected.

“Things went out way and we scored five tries and things went well, but they got an injury, I think it was the winger… one of their props went down, a lock got injured.

“The one try is alright, we gave that away but we still won the game.”

With that bonus point win, the world champion South Africa atop of The Rugby Championship standings after the opening round. Argentina sit in second after their shock 38-30 win over New Zealand in Wellington.

But this competition moves quickly, and Erasmus hasn’t ruled out “a 30-point change” when the Springboks take on the Wallabies for a second time next weekend. Australia will host another clash between the teams at Perth’s Optus Stadium on August 17.

“We can sit here next Saturday and we’ve long faces if we don’t face the reality. In South Africa, we know what reality is. Reality is if you always don’t check yourself and say, ‘Where are we and what are our struggles and how are we going to put things together?’ We just keep on reminding each other.

“We sometimes know we fall a little bit off track but this weekend we didn’t… I know Joe (Schmidt), they will be tough next week and it can be a 30-point change in the game.

“What fuels is the reality of where we live, why we do it, we keep reminding each other – not that we’ve done anything great yet in this specific year – but I mean when we start the week on Monday, we’ll go back and reset.”