Rassie: Marvellous Herschel mirrored Springboks’ performance

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said on Saturday night that their impressive 35-17 Rugby Championship victory over Australia at Ellis Park was more about individual brilliance than a cohesive team effort.

Although the Springboks started brightly with a tremendous team try rounded off by debutant scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, they were fortunate to lead 14-10 at halftime because Australia had butchered two clear tries as centre Tevita Kuridrani threw a forward pass to flank Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and then wing Dane Haylett-Petty knocked the ball on over the tryline.

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South Africa were much more precise and ruthless in the second half though, with Jantjies capping an outstanding debut with a fine individual try down the blindside that took them into a decisive 28-10 lead in the final quarter.

“Herschel showed that he is definitely comfortable at this level and one can have nothing other than praise for him. To come straight from Super Rugby and play like that – his service, his box-kicks, his technique, his grit on defence and of course his marvellous attacking ability – were awesome. It was a great start to his Springbok career,” Erasmus said.

“The performance itself wasn’t close to world-class, it was more about individuals who put their hands up and showed that they can prosper at international level. But we expected that because the team hasn’t played for a while. Rust was obviously one of our worries and whether the combinations would gel, but it came on through the game, even though it was stop-start.”

The Springbok coach did not deny Lady Luck had played her part, but said he felt his team were due some luck after some of the misfortune they suffered last year when they ended with a 50% winning record.

“What goes around comes around. Last year against England, things did not go our way with that high tackle and New Zealand were awarded a try that they might not have been. But tonight we were very lucky with the knock-on over the tryline and a forward pass, because both of those could have been scored and then we would have been under the pump. So we can only say thanks for that.

“But it was a bit frustrating overall tonight, although individuals showed some great form. But next week in New Zealand we’ll be fresh, the bulk of the team have flown over already and are used to the time zone and acclimatised. Plus some guys tonight have really put their hands up. Our last three games against the All Blacks have all been decided by a couple of points, so we are expecting a massive game,” Erasmus said

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