Rassie promises selection changes to salvage Rugby Championship campaign
REACTION: South African coach Rassie Erasmus promised selection and tactical changes, as his team look to salvage their faltering Rugby Championship campaign.
New Zealand taught the South Africans another brutal lesson in wet-weather rugby, the All Blacks cementing their No.1 world ranking and top spot on the Rugby Championship standings with a 24-17 win to extend their Eden Park unbeaten run to 51 Tests.
The home team scored two early tries and kept an error-prone Springbok team at bay to win more convincingly than the seven-point margin suggests.
Erasmus admitted they were ‘chasing their own tail’ in the slippery conditions, after conceding 14 points in the opening quarter.
All Black back row forward and new centurion Ardie Savea won a decisive turnover in the dying minutes of his 100th Test to halt a late charge by the Boks.
Erasmus said he felt the set pieces were pretty even, with both teams having their moments.
However, it was at the breakdown that the All Blacks had the upper hand.
“I don’t think they did anything illegal,” Erasmus said of the ruck battle, adding: “We just didn’t control it well enough.
“There were many things we got wrong, but conceding those 14 points [early on] and thinking you can still win is a problem.”
Erasmus said, with the All Blacks just five points ahead (10 points to five), the championship is not lost.
“We must fix our errors,” the Bok coach said, adding that there will be changes for next week’s return fixture in Wellington.
“Let’s see what the weather is like next week.
“Before this game, we thought we would go into next week with more or less the same team.
“However, we will definitely make a few changes.”
The Bok coach admitted there were some ‘gutsy spells’, interspersed by lots of ‘terrible’ periods.
The only positive is that they are still in the running for the championship.
“We have another chance next week,” Erasmus said, adding that he won’t blame individuals.
“We pick the players, we set the defence structures.
“Maybe it has to do with team selection.
“Sometimes, as coaches and management, we must put up our hands and say: ‘Maybe we got the combinations wrong’.
“We did not get it right in this game, and we have to adjust.”
South Africa captain Jesse Kriel said his team was not up to scratch.
“There were way too many handling errors and things that just weren’t up to standard for us,” Kriel said.
“But full credit to New Zealand, I thought they were really good, and it was a special way to celebrate an awesome player for them in Ardie.
“I am proud of how the team stood up and fought back to get within a converted try.
“There was a sense of calmness in the group.
“We just weren’t good enough and clinical enough to win a Test of this magnitude.”
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