Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'It was the only decent rugby we played' - Erasmus fuming over Bok display

Handres Pollard attack the Pumas defensive line /Getty

South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus expects significant improvements from his team after watching them labour to a 34-21 victory over Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener.

ADVERTISEMENT

Two tries apiece from Aphiwe Dyantyi and Makazole Mapimpi, together with scores for Lukhanyo Am and Faf de Klerk, saw the Springboks come from behind to get the better of the visitors in Durban.

They could well face a sterner examination on the Pumas’ turf in the return fixture next weekend in Mendoza, where Erasmus knows there will be no margin for error.

“The only positive was the first 30 minutes in the second half; it was the only decent rugby we played,” he said.

“I was expecting that we wouldn’t produce a completely fluent display, but the first half was worse than I thought. Thankfully [captain] Siya [Kolisi] and the boys picked it up after the break.

“We lost a few line-outs that were crucial and there were some technical errors but for all of that it was a dominant performance, but it wasn’t the crispest performance. Technically and tactically we weren’t on par today.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Asked what he expects of Argentina next weekend, Erasmus replied: “They know what we’re about now and we’ll make a few changes to the team – four or five changes – as we’re expecting a massive physical onslaught; they are fuming.

“They have always been tough there – but we got five points out of this game; not the most beautiful and perfect game but we’re well in it. Going there I don’t think we have the luxury of experimenting.”

Pumas coach Mario Ledesma said: “They kept playing direct physical footie and it’s like a dam; if you keep hammering, hammering eventually the wall will break.”

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | First Match | Full Match Replay

Did the Lions loosies get away with murder? And revisiting the Springboks lift | Whistle Watch

The First Test, Visiting The Great Barrier Reef & Poetry with Pierre | Ep 6: The Ultimate Test

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 20 minutes ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Nice, that’s good to hear, I was worried for the tackler and it increasing concussions overall.


My question is still the same, and the important one though. Where the rate of concussions in Fed 2 high? Of course if there where only three concussions, and they were reduced now to one, then there is no need for the new laws etc.


There are two angles to this discussion, mine above about player welfare, and of course the that which you raise, legal responsibility. More, the legal responsibility we are concerned with is what’s happening now.


WR don’t really know much about CTE I wouldn’t think, whether it happens from innocuous things like heading a ball, or from small knocks or big knocks that don’t heal. Right now they are ensuring the backside is clean by implementing laws to rule out any possibility they didn’t do enough. So once they understand the problem more they may realise some things are overboard.


The other legal responsibility is the one you are talking about in France, the past. Did the LNR and WR know about the severity and frequency of CTE in rugby? That is the question in that debate. If they didn’t know then theres nothing they could have done, so there is no worry. Further, what we may have now is a situation where 90% of those court actions might not happen in future thanks to the new framework we already have around HIA and head contact processes. Your English example is only going to be an issue if future players still continue to receive CTE (as that is obviously bad), as it is now, the players have taken on their own responsibility by ignore advice. No doubt some countries, like France and New Zealand, will lower their tackle height, but as long as the union has done an adequate job in advising of the severity of the problem at least the legal shadow over the community game will have gone.

228 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Former Lion offers theory why Chessum call-up led to Genge benching Former Lion offers theory why Chessum call-up led to Genge benching