'I know it looked chaotic': Rassie shares thoughts on officials and the clock after Perth defeat

REACTION: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus dissected his team’s performance and touched on the match officials after his side’s 38-42 defeat to the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.

The Wallabies bagged the statement win despite being reduced to 11 men in one of the craziest finishes to a Test match.

Australia looked on track for a cruisy victory after opening up a 42-17 lead following Max Jorgensen’s breakaway try in the 64th minute.

However, in a bizarre finish to the match, which featured Italian referee Andrea Piardi needing to use a mobile phone for reviews following a malfunction to his communication gear, the Wallabies had four players sent off.

In that period, the Boks scored three tries to ensure a nervy finish for the hosts.

“For the neutral, it must’ve been a really exciting game to watch, and I guess for Australia it must be awesome,” said Erasmus.

“For us, we lost in a Springbok jersey against Australia. I think with all the disruptions that there were, we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves because of the result.

“I know the technology failed a bit, and there were a lot of clocks that kept on running sometimes and didn’t stop. However, that didn’t influence how we played, and we didn’t play well enough to beat Australia.”

The story continues below…

Plenty to unpack from Perth. 👀🇿🇦

A much-changed Springbok side fell 42-38 to the Wallabies, with Rassie Erasmus making 13 changes to the starting XV as he continued to build squad depth.

🔗 PLAYER RATINGS – https://t.co/raBCj7uVsT #AUSvRSA #Springboks #Wallabies pic.twitter.com/KY0owJciBP

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) September 27, 2026

There were times when captain Andre Esterhuizen and other Boks spoke to referee Piardi on the field about the clock not stopping during reviews.

“It’s tough when there are reviews, and the clock keeps going, and then you lose 20 seconds and then another five seconds, but we played ourselves into that position when we were 25 points behind,” Erasmus explained.

“So, we’ve got nobody else to blame. It’s us. We rolled the dice a little bit, and some guys haven’t played a lot together in a long time. That’s not an excuse; we picked the team.

“We had a game plan, and our plan, our players and our coaching staff didn’t trump them in the end.

“I thought we had a chance in the end there. I thought the cross-kick where he could’ve scored – if we didn’t lose another 30 seconds there, obviously we could’ve. But the better team won on the night.”

Erasmus praised the officials for the way they managed the technology problems.

“The way the referees handled the games without comms, I thought it was outstanding.

“I know it looked chaotic, but I thought they got a lot of things right on the telephones.”

The story continues below…

A massive shift in Perth. 🔥

Ryan Lonergan is our Rugby365 Player of the Match after an impressive performance in the Wallabies’ win over the Springboks. 🏆#AUSvRSA #Wallabies #Springboks pic.twitter.com/67pj4AiaWf

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) September 27, 2026

The Bok boss also refused to blame the travelling and lengthy periods in camp for his team’s performance, especially after a four-Test series against the All Blacks.

“It has been a long slog, but if we pipped this game in the end, we would’ve said, ‘Hey boys, it’s wonderful, we are together, and we are a tight team’. And because we lost, it doesn’t mean we are not tight.

“It’s shit to lose. We don’t enjoy it.

“We know how South Africa feels now, and we don’t want to give them that feeling.

“So, it’s not because were too long on tour; it’s because we didn’t play well enough.”

Additional reporting by AAP