Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was not entirely proud of his team’s 32-15 victory against Scotland in the opening Test of the Outgoing Tour in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Erasmus would like his team to be more in sync as they continue to build their squad depth.
The Springboks scored four tries to none by the hosts, with all Scotland’s points earned compliments of penalty goals, but both Erasmus and Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth felt the scoreboard flattered the visitors.
Eben Etzebeth lead from the front
“We were nervous the whole week,” said Erasmus at the post-match press conference.
“If you make 11 changes to a side and expect them to immediately gel, it won’t always happen like that.
“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.”
Elaborating on his statement, Erasmus said: “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 sync better on the field and handle things better if in case we get injuries.”
Etzebeth echoed his coach’s sentiments and admitted that they expected a hard grind against the Scots, who entered the weekend ranked seventh on the world rankings.
“We said from the outset Scotland are a quality team, and one of the best in the world,” said Etzebeth.
“I think (winning by) 17 points flatters us a bit. We knew it would be a grind of a match, and credit to them, they played well today.”
The Boks had gone for a 7-1, forwards/backs bench split and even when Erasmus turned to the replacements in the 45th minute, Scotland stayed in the fight.
“The guys who came on eventually got some momentum going there, but they’re [Scotland] a proud team and we had to work hard to beat them by 17 points, which we all know could have been a very tight game.
“It’s not an effort thing, it’s just about repeating and aligning. The effort I am proud of, and I think we all are, but it’s just about being in sync.”
Looking forward to their next assignment against England at the Allianz Stadium in London on Saturday, Erasmus said it would be a different test altogether:
“Next week against England will be a different challenge as we will be facing a desperate team that come off two losses in matches they could have won.”
“Maybe the scoreboard does flatter us a little bit, but we got a good performance in. We know things are not always going to go our way. It’s going to be a bit of a grind and they definitely stood up to us.
“It was a good battle and they were great today. We probably weren’t at our best, but we showed quality in the end to get the job done.
“We set high standards for ourselves. We drive it within the team from the players and management. We want to keep on performing and we know that every now and again there is going to be a performance that we’re not proud of,” said Etzebeth.
The Springboks will travel from Edinburgh to London on Monday and begin their on-field preparations for their clash against England on Tuesday.
