‘A satisfying victory in trying conditions,’ says Rassie after Bok win in Perth

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has lauded the effort of his players in trying conditions in Perth following the world champions’ 30-12 Rugby Championship win against the Wallabies on Saturday.

The Boks backed up their 33-7 win in Brisbane in round one with an equally impressive showing on Saturday, but in vastly different conditions.

The Boks had made 10 changes to their starting lineup for the match and then they were also forced to play in driving rain for most of the 80-minutes. On top of that, they lost their captain, Salmaan Moerat, to concussion after just 20 minutes, while the teams were forced to scrum uncontested for the majority of the second half because of injuries to the Australian front-rankers.

‘Satisfying victory’

It was the first time in over 50 years that the Boks won back to back matches in Australia.

With 10 log points earned on their trip, the world champions are in the driving seat in the Rugby Championship. They next face the All Blacks in two home matches.

“Any win in Australia is good, considering how much we’ve struggled here in the past,” said Erasmus on Saturday.

“We wanted two wins and we got them … the bonus points are exactly that, a bonus.

“But I’m happy all 33 players got game time, that was a goal of ours coming here, so that’s great.

“Then with all the disruptions … the rain, the injuries to their front-rows, an injury to our captain … we had to adapt, so I’m happy. It was a satisfying victory.”

‘Massive squad effort’

Erasmus conceded his side could have won by a bigger margin had his players not squandered a few good opportunities.

Eben Etzebeth, who replaced the concussed Moerat and also took over the captaincy, agreed with Erasmus that the Boks have made a good start to the Rugby Championship.

“This win was due to a massive squad effort. The guys who started the match laid the foundation, and the guys who came on later finished the job,” he said.

“It’s been great to see all the players perform at this level, after many of them also played against (tier two) Portugal a few weeks ago. It just shows what coach Rassie is building.”