Happy after using a full squad to secure successive bonus-point wins in Australia, Rassie Erasmus has already turned his attention to a ‘massive mini-series’ against the All Blacks.
The Springboks completed a perfect start to their Rugby Championship campaign by powering to a bonus-point victory over the Wallabies in a wet-weather contest in Perth.
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As an added bonus, Erasmus fielded almost a full squad of 33 players taken on tour – bar lock RG Snyman, who missed both games due to a foot injury.
“We’ve always struggled against Australia, so we are just happy that we got away with two wins,” Erasmus said. “Getting a bonus point from each game is a bonus. That’s why we call it a bonus point.
“All 33 players on tour played. We set that out as a goal. It’s great that although the game was disruptive with the rain and injuries to their front row, we adapted, even though we lost our captain in the first half.
“It was satisfying. It wasn’t beautiful in this weather, but it was a satisfying win.”
Beautiful it certainly wasn’t as a Bok team featuring 10 changes struggled to make full use of their territory in the first half and only had a two-point lead at the break.
The conditions made it tough for rookie halfbacks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morne van den Berg to impose themselves on the game. The Boks were also robbed of using their scrum as a weapon, as Australia’s concussions reduced it to uncontested scrums.
However, a fully loaded bench of World Cup winners, including Eben Etzebeth, who was on early for his 124th cap in place of concussed captain Salmaan Moerat, diffused the Australian bomb.
“It was nervous. I was nervous until the 70th minute,” Erasmus said. “We were on our own goalline and conceded two penalties. We were making errors, but then Eben and the guys buckled down and said not another penalty.
“It wasn’t just the first half that was nerve-wracking. The whole game was like that for me. It was close at half time. We could have scored more tries, where Sacha just had to catch the ball. It could have been a further lead.
“We had security on the bench and that’s why we sometimes pick teams like that.”
Erasmus is already looking forward towards the upcoming home Tests against New Zealand in Johannesburg and Cape Town, after a week’s bye.
The All Blacks bounced back from their humbling defeat to Argentina in style, by demolishing the Pumas at Eden Park.
“It will be a tougher challenge, with no disrespect to Australia, just because Australia is in a rebuilding phase,” Erasmus said.
“The All Blacks, the moment people start writing them off, last week when they lost a lot of people had a lot of stuff to say, but then they put on a proper performance against Argentina. We play them at altitude and then in Cape Town, where they will be a bit more comfortable.
“It will be a massive mini-series for us. We are in for a tough three weeks.”
