VIDEO - Erasmus: 'It's not a performance we are very proud of'
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that his team produced a shaky performance in their 32-15 victory over Scotland on Sunday.
The visitors scored four tries in the match with wing Makazole Mapimpi getting a brace.
They also managed to stop Scotland from crossing the tryline in the 80 minutes, even though Gregor Townsend’s side looked threatening with ball in hand for large periods.
Scotland also played with 14 men for a quarter of the match when Scott Cummings’ yellow card for a croc roll on Franco Mostert in the first half was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
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“We were nervous the whole week,” said Erasmus.
“When you make 11 changes like that and you just expect them to gel, but it won’t always happen like that.
“That is certainly something we want to get into the team – no matter who you play with, our systems and communication are always up to scratch.
“Then again we always knew we had some good cover on the bench and maybe the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story.
“We can probably be very proud of playing against Finn Russell in two games and not giving a try away.
“That’s pretty hard to do, but it is certainly not a performance we are very proud of.”
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When asked to go into detail about the areas he was concerned with, Erasmus made it clear that it wasn’t about “effort”.
“We just want the team to gel because we have been together for a while now.
“Next week will probably be Damian [Allende] and Jesse [Kriel] in the midfield again. But we want to know if one of those guys goes down, or if Eben goes down, then players like Jean Kleyn or RG [Snyman], must slot in seamlessly.
“It is not about effort; it’s about repeating and aligning.
“I am proud of the effort. Seventeen points against them away from home is not too shabby.
“It’s just about us getting in sync.”
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Eben Etzebeth, who captained the side, believes Scotland deserves a lot of credit for the way they put the world champions under pressure.
“Maybe the scoreboard does flatter us a little bit.
“We knew it was going to be a bit of a grind.
“They are a quality side and they definitely stood up to us in general play with their physicality.
“I think we probably weren’t at our best, but we showed quality in the end to post that scoreline.”
@rugby365com
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