VIDEO - Rassie: 'I don’t think the world believed us'
SPOTLIGHT: The Springboks are determined to find that perfect balance in their game when they face the Wallabies in Cape Town on Saturday.
That balance was not there in their Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park when they fell to a 22-38 defeat to the Aussies.
The Boks showed plenty of enterprise with ball in hand to race into a 22-0 lead in the opening quarter before things started to fall apart for the world champions.
They conceded six unanswered tries in 60 minutes in what has been labelled as an “embarrassing” performance on home soil.
A few days have passed since that defeat, and Bok head Rassie Erasmus has had plenty of time to digest that defeat.
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“There’s frustration and obviously disappointment, but at least we know what we did wrong,” Erasmus told reporters in Cape Town ahead of the Round Two clash.
“I think that is the most important thing. They totally outplayed us.
“In a game like that, we couldn’t even say we were unlucky.
“I think four of their tries came when there wasn’t even a phase – an intercept pass here, and offload there, and they [Wallabies] worked so hard to be in those positions.
“Internally, our team has been announced.
“We said last week what we are up against. I don’t think the world believed us when we said we are up against a really good Wallaby team. We believed that and they showed it.”
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The Boks are expected to play to their traditional strengths in Cape Town this weekend, and it also means getting some of the basics right, especially in the pack.
However, they will have to do it without stalwarts like Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi, who are both sidelined.
“The thing is, if you play beautiful rugby and you lose, then you lose. If you play boring rugby and you win, you win, and people are happy, and we were totally on the wrong side of that balance on Saturday.
“It’s not because [attack coach] Tony [Brown] coaches that way. I think it’s a trap that we also fell into against Italy in the first match when we were 25 points up.
“You tend to think things are easy and there is so much space, but then a proud country like Australia just takes their opportunities.
“We hope to do that [find the balance] on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, utility back Canan Moodie shared Erasmus’ sentiments regarding what they need to do to bounce back.
“Everyone is extremely disappointed, and we are hurting, but as coach Rassie said, we know what we have to do,” said Moodie.
“This week we need to stack the positives and ensure that we stick to our plans on the day.”
He added: “Our defence has to complement our attack and our kicking game has to be spot on this week, so this is an important week for us.”
@rugby365com
Photo credits: Anton Geyser Media
