The Springboks have to win the second Test in Cape Town to keep their chances of winning the four-match series alive.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus took much of the heat for the Boks loss against the All Blacks at Ellis Park, ahead of the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday. Picture: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
The Springboks are desperate to bounce back with a win in the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, to regain their number one ranking and lift their fans in the process.
It was a disastrous start to the famed series for the Boks as they delivered a decent performance overall, but couldn’t produce the finishing touches which led to a surprisingly heavy 33-16 defeat to the hosts at Ellis Park last Saturday.
The loss ended a 12-game winning run for the Boks, and saw the All Blacks leapfrog them to the top of the World Rugby rankings, and they are thus desperate to rectify things in Cape Town.
“We’re proud South Africans. When we went out onto the field we could see the fans and what it means to people, so we are desperate to win this game,” explained coach Rassie Erasmus earlier this week.
“We are playing a very good side, the No 1 team in the world on Saturday. It comes down to executing the plan, staying aligned and bringing intensity to training sessions.”
Erasmus admitted that he had got a number of decisions wrong in the first game that contributed to the defeat, including the shift in the backline after the early loss of wing Kurt-Lee Arendse to a head knock.
Decisions made
“Sometimes, when we win, players and coaches take a lot of the credit but when we lose, the players often shoulder the blame. It was very much about decisions I made during the week,” explained Erasmus.
“Trying to change things up, maybe being too clever, making substitutions at the wrong time and perhaps over-analysing our plans. It came down to the plans we made as a coaching team. That is not on the players and maybe down to bad planning.”
The players, however, should cop a bit of heat because despite their set piece dominance, they were unable to get over the whitewash, scoring just one try to the All Blacks’ five, despite having more 22m entries.
Erasmus insisted he wasn’t protecting his players and was just providing extra context on why the Boks were unable to execute as well as they should have.
“No, I’m not shielding them. The truth is that a lot of the things we asked of them, they did. The plan didn’t win the match for us, but the players certainly didn’t lose it for us either. I’m taking responsibility for the decisions we made,” said Erasmus.
“We are a group. I don’t want the players to sit here and explain why we lost if it was more on me. I’m simply trying to be honest, not shielding them.”
The second Test on Saturday kicks off at 5.10pm.
