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'We're under no illusions that this was far from a world-class performance'

Debut-making Herschel Jantjies of the Springboks during the The Rugby Championship against Australia (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus lauded a number of players for their individual performances in a 35-17 win over Australia in Johannesburg but said his team will have to improve as they build towards the World Cup.

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The Boks scored five tries to two in the Rugby Championship opener, with debut-making scrum-half Herschel Jantjies grabbing two on debut as South Africa recorded a bonus point win at Ellis Park. Lood de Jager, Sbu Nkosi and Cobus Reinach also scored tries, while Elton Jantjies converted all five tries.

“A few guys certainly put their hands up for World Cup selection and although there was some rustiness and all our combinations weren’t settled, we are still happy with the win,” said Erasmus.

“At times we were frustrated with how things went, and we were also lucky as they had a try disallowed for a forward pass and lost the ball over the line.

“The same happened in some Tests last year – some you win, some you lose. We’ll take it and say ‘thanks’, but we’re under no illusions that this was far from a world-class performance. The biggest positive from the Test was probably individual performances.

(Continue reading below…)

“From a team performance perspective, this isn’t how we want to play, quality-wise, and we’re aware of that. They had our number in the air and we’ll have to look at that, there are a lot of areas we can improve on.”

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Erasmus lauded the performances of Herschel Jantjies and Reinach, as well as Frans Steyn, Rynhardt Elstadt, Marcell Coetzee and Francois Louw, all of whom (bar Jantjies) joined the squad from overseas and slotted in with ease.

“Herschel showed that he is comfortable at this level if you consider that he only really made his mark at Super Rugby level this year,” said Erasmus. “Cobus also did very well when he came on. But things can change quickly with injuries and loss of form, so it’s good to have depth.

“Last year Embrose Papier and Ivan van Zyl did very well at stages, while we also have Faf (de Klerk) and Louis Schreuder, so it’s good to have all these options available. Now we have to consolidate and make sure we get the right No9s to the World Cup.”

Erasmus, three of his assistant coaches and a group of players went straight from the stadium to the airport to fly to New Zealand where they will join 13 players and some members of management who left on Thursday.

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“We will fly a few more players and management over on Sunday and perhaps some more players on Monday so that we’ll have a squad of around 34 in New Zealand,” he explained.

 

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“We are not returning to South Africa after the Test in Wellington and will remain in New Zealand for a camp before we go straight to Argentina to face the Pumas. But before that, we need to shift our focus to the All Blacks. They also lost some players at home and will be fresh and ready for us.

“It was difficult to select this team as we didn’t want to show any disrespect to Australia, but next weekend we are playing the top side in the world, so we amended our travel plans as we would like to be as fresh as possible over there, otherwise we won’t stand a chance.

“This is a massively important match – the last three Tests between us and them have been very close and could have gone either way, but they are playing at home and will be ready for us.

“I will properly analyse this match against Australia on the plane and when we get to New Zealand, we will look at what our needs are in terms of which players will have to join us over there. We’ll start our preparations in all earnest on Monday.”

WATCH: Episode three of the RugbyPass Rugby Explorer series where Jim Hamilton takes a trek through South African rugby

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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