'I would give the team a six or seven for the victory. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but we had to get back on the horse.'
The Springboks are back, according to head coach Rassie Erasmus, as they returned to winning ways following their shock opening loss in the Rugby Championship to outlast the Wallabies 30-22 in the second Test at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
After flying into a 22-0 lead at Ellis Park a week earlier, the Boks fell apart to lose 38-22, and went into the second game with plenty of questions around their playstyle and if they could respond with a big performance to take into their two game tour of New Zealand next month.
It wasn’t a perfect performance in Cape Town, as the Boks again enjoyed a strong first half to lead 20-10 at the break, before the Wallabies again fought back in the second half, bringing the scores to 23-22 going into the final 10 minutes, before a late try from the home side sealed the result in the end.
Relieved Rassie
Erasmus was asked after the match what his highlights of the game were, and he seemed quite relieved when admitting it was getting the win.
“Probably the scoreboard,” said Erasmus with a smile. “I don’t think we as a group underestimated Australia at all. We said it last week that those first 22 points (scored by the Boks at Ellis Park) put the world into a lull with how good they are.
“We found them extremely difficult to beat, like the (British and Irish) Lions did in those two Test matches. (Wallabies flyhalf James) O’Connor also missed two vital penalties to be within seven points which would have made it really tight the last few minutes.
“After a loss you lose a bit of belief. We won eight on the trot and then lost one, so we are nine out of 10. But you do lose a bit of belief, so the big thing for us was to try win and not let them get a bonus point.
“Now we have to go to New Zealand and beat them there twice if we want to have any chance (of retaining the Rugby Championship). So we are back and we have log points. They are ahead of us on the log, but overall we are just happy with the win.”
Pollard factor
One of the big differences in the Bok performance from a week previously was the cool head of veteran flyhalf Handré Pollard, who produced a man-of-the-match performance as he marshalled the game superbly, and slotted all six of his kicks at goal.
Erasmus admitted that was what was needed for them to bounce back, and although it still wasn’t the perfect performance, it was good for them to get back to winning ways.
“That cool head of Handré was needed, and he kicked his penalties over. Where O’Connor missed two kicks, Handré slotted everything. He was very important,” said Erasmus.
“Looking at last week and overall for this game, I would give the team a six or seven for the victory. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but we had to get back on the horse.
“We played a more balanced game, but we didn’t create 50 per cent of what we created last weekend. We ground the game out, and I thought it was going to be tight, but we got the points and it was eight more than them. That was satisfying.”
