The Boks scored seven tries to beat Wales and kept the visitors scoreless.
Jaco Williams in action for the Springboks against Wales on Saturday. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he was “satisfied” with his team’s 43-0 victory against Wales in the final Nations Championship match this month in Durban on Saturday.
The 12 teams playing in the competition will resume action against each other in November when the teams face off in the Northern Hemisphere. There will also be a Finals Weekend where the best team in the hemispheres will be crowned.
The Boks scored seven tries and didn’t concede a point in their victory on Saturday, to go with wins against England and Scotland this month.
Conditions in Durban
“To get 43 points and to keep them to nil – we’re satisfied with that,” said Erasmus.
“Forty-three-nil was definitely better than last week – certainly defensively – but it’s easier to defend on a wet field like that – and we had no injuries, so that’s good.
“I think we’ve got a little bit better in every game of the Nations Championship but as we’ve been rotating it does take cohesion away.”
Erasmus said the conditions were deceptively difficult which led to a succession of handling errors: “We saw world-class players make a few knocks-on in this game. The field is really slippery, and you could feel it in the warm-up – that it was really greasy.
“It was tough to play an expansive, pretty game in weather like that against a team that really wanted to defend.
“But we didn’t lose a lineout ball and, while we weren’t on our game in the scrums last week, we were good today – our maul stopping and mauling itself was good. It was something that we wanted to get right so we had a lot of fixes that we got right.
“In this game we learnt that our defence was better than last week – we worked really hard on that – and then our set piece was really solid. And I think some guys handled the pressure of Test match rugby better than they did last week. I think a lot of guys came through this test with ticks against their name.”
All Blacks Tests
The Boks next face Argentina in Buenos Aires in two weeks’ time before turning their attention to the All Blacks and four Tests against their fiercest rivals.
Erasmus said a squad of 26 players would be sent to South America while a group of 15 or 16 players remained behind with some coaches to prepare for the Tests in August and September.
Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu would be ready for the Argentina tour, although Handre Pollard has a hamstring injury and is unlikely to tour.
It is not yet known if Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth or Franco Mostert will be fit to face the Pumas. Erasmus is expected to give an injury update in the coming days.
