Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi sung the praises of their charges in the wake of their dominant 33-7 triumph over hosts Australia in their Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane on Saturday.
The pair were quick to point out it was not a perfect performance, and they expected a strong backlash from the hosts in Perth.
“Next week is a new Test and we want to give other players a chance, but that said we know Joe Schmidt (Australian head coach) and how he can turn things around,” said Erasmus.
“He’s only had four games with Australia, and next week is a new game and a new venue, and we are expecting a big challenge.”
Kolisi added: “Next week is going to be a completely different challenge and we know it will be tougher, so we need to remain focused and keep working hard.”
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Convincing performance
The Springboks however proved their championship class in Brisbane, scoring five tries to one after being forced to make a late injury change. Pieter-Steph du Toit started at lock and Ben-Jason Dixon was promoted to flanker (with Salmaan Moerat providing lock cover on the bench), after RG Snyman failed to recover from a foot injury.
With a little more precise finishing, the Springboks could have registered a bigger winning margin after creating several try-scoring chances throughout the game. They will, however, take comfort from the fact that the only try they conceded was when they were reduced to 13 men after receiving three yellow cards in quick succession toward the end of the match.
“This was an important away win for us, and a special one too,” said Kolisi. “In the last few years, we didn’t start well away from home, so to get this win was special and we are really happy about earning the bonus point.
“We haven’t done well in Australia especially, so we were very focused to turn that around going into this game, even though this ground is a fortress for them, because as I said earlier in the week, we knew we couldn’t win the Castle Lager Rugby Championship here, but we could lose it here.”
Erasmus was equally pleased with their strong start to the southern hemisphere spectacle and said: “We are happy with the performance, but not the three yellow cards. We also didn’t cherish the ball and look after it like a piece of gold, but at times we played with good structure and intent. So, we certainly don’t want to throw points away like that.”
On conceding only one try, Erasmus said: “We would have liked to keep them scoreless, but it would be arrogant to say that. The reality is we wanted to come here and win, and we are delighted that we were able to do that today.”
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Room for improvement
Kolisi echoed Erasmus’ sentiments about the missed opportunities and said: “We played well at moments, but we also left a lot of points out there.”
Of the late injury changes, Erasmus said: “RG picked up a foot niggle during the week and didn’t pass a fitness Test, and the plan was that Ruan (Nortje) would have started, but he also hurt his knee, so we opted to start Ben-Jason with Pieter-Steph at lock, and we thought he did well against their tall forwards.”
Erasmus, however, said that neither of the injuries to Snyman and Nortje were serious enough to warrant them returning to South Africa, meaning they could possibly be in the selection mix at the Optus Stadium next week.
With the stadium littered with Springbok supporters in what almost felt like a home game for the Boks, Kolisi and Erasmus thanked the passionate crowd saying: “The people of South Africa always make an effort to come out and support us and it was great to feel that, and we know next week will be the same in Perth,” said the Bok skipper. “It’s a privilege for us to do what we do, and we want to come out next week and build on this performance.”
The Springboks will travel to Perth on Sunday and begin their on-field preparations for the next Test on Monday.
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