Rassie reflects on Bok win: ‘Scoreboard doesn’t tell whole story’

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has admitted that his side were not at their best, despite eventually sealing a 32-15 win over Scotland in their opening end-of-year-tour match in Edinburgh on Sunday.

As has happened a number of times over their 11 games this season, the Boks made a slew of changes from their previous game, this time making 11 to their starting lineup from the team that played against Argentina in Mbombela in September.

Erasmus explained that they were hoping to get the team used to many changes between games, especially considering how much depth they have in their squad and how many good players they have waiting in the wings for their chance to shine.

“If you make 11 changes to the side and expect them to immediately gel, it doesn’t always happen like that,” said Erasmus after the game. “But it is something we want to get into the team, that no matter who you play alongside, our systems and communication are always up to scratch.

“We want to know that if we lose players to injury, we have others who can slot in seamlessly. We knew we had good cover on the bench, though the scoreline does not tell the whole story.”

Finishing and defence

A big part of the Boks’ win was down to them finishing their chances, with them scoring four tries over the match, while they also kept Scotland tryless for the second straight game, after they pulled off the same feat at last year’s World Cup in France.

It was also the Boks‘ third game this season keeping a team tryless, having done it to the Wallabies Down Under and the All Blacks in Cape Town during the Rugby Championship, and Erasmus admitted that he was proud of the effort from the team, but not the performance overall.

“The scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story, but we can be proud of the fact that we didn’t concede a try in the last two matches we played against them,” said Erasmus.

“We had to work hard to beat them, so in general we are not pleased with our performance today.

“I was happy about the effort the team showed and winning by 17 points away from home, but we need to work on trying to get in sync better on the field and handle things better if we get injuries.”

Looking ahead, the Boks have to prepare for a big encounter against England at Twickenham on Saturday, who will be smarting after two tight losses against the All Blacks and Wallabies and they will be desperate to bounce back.

“Against England it will be a different challenge as we will be facing a desperate team that come off two losses in matches they could have won,” said Erasmus.