Rassie on what the Springboks learned from Wales whitewash
It was a case of one-way traffic as the Springboks recorded a 43-0 win over Wales in the Nations Championship Round Three clash at Kings Park Stadium on Saturday.
While the Boks eased to a seven-try bonus-point victory, the hosts were not at their clinical best.
However, they still managed to deny Wales any points for a second game in a row between the two sides, highlighting the gulf between the two nations.
The previous match between them ended in a 73-0 victory for the Boks in Cardiff in November.
Speaking to reporters following the win Erasmus said the weather conditions really impacted the team’s performance especially when it came to handling errors.
“It was really slippery. During the warm-up you could feel it’s greasy, so it’s tough to play an expansive, pretty game in weather like that, and against a team that really wanted to defend.
“You could tell they’re up for the defence, so to get 43 points and keep them to nil, we’re satisfied with that.” Erasmus stated.
The victory was the Springboks’ third successive win in the Nations Championship, leaving them at the top of the Southern Hemisphere standings before the tournament heads north later this year.
Having already beaten England and Scotland, Erasmus believes his side has shown consistent improvement over the past three weeks.
“If you have to take it department by department. How were the scrums? How were the defensive scrums? How were the mauls? How was the maul stopping? How was the attack? How was the handling?
“We also tried to get better in each position, player-wise, and then also tactically and technically, and I think definitely every game we got a little bit better.”
The Springbok coach admitted there were still areas that need attention despite another convincing victory.
“In this game we learned that our defence was better than last week [during the win over Scotland]. We worked really hard on that, and then our set-piece was really solid, but there were a lot of handling errors.
“I think some guys handled the pressure of Test-match rugby a little bit better than we did last week. But who’s better, Scotland or Wales? It’s difficult to say how much we’ve learned, but it’s a Test match and a lot of guys came through this Test match, and I think we’ve ticked them off.”
Erasmus also revealed the Springboks had come through the match without any injuries.
He will now select a 26-man squad to tour South America, while a group of 15 or 16 players will remain in South Africa with members of the coaching staff to prepare for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against New Zealand in August and September.
