“We took a gamble” – Rassie Erasmus responds to shock Springbok defeat
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Gamble.
Rassie Erasmus admitted his Springbok selection was a gamble after South Africa suffered a dramatic 42-38 defeat to Australia in Perth.
Erasmus made 13 changes to the starting side that defeated the All Blacks in Baltimore, handing opportunities to several players who had not featured prominently during the recent 3-1 series victory over New Zealand.
The world champions ultimately paid the price for an error-strewn opening 70 minutes as Australia raced into a remarkable 42-17 lead.
South Africa mounted a late comeback as the Wallabies were reduced to 11 players following four yellow cards, scoring 21 unanswered points before running out of time.
Erasmus refused to blame the changes for the defeat.
“We have nobody else to blame but ourselves for the result,” he said.
“We didn’t play well enough to deserve the victory. We took a bit of a gamble with some guys who hadn’t played together for a long time, but that’s not an excuse. The better team won on the night.”
The Springbok boss acknowledged supporters back home would be frustrated by the result, particularly after their impressive series victory over the All Blacks.
“I know South African supporters will be upset if I sit here and say we’re learning a lot while we’re losing,” Erasmus added.
“If we’d managed to pull this game through, I would have said we’d learnt a lot about our players and how they respond in tight situations.”
Erasmus was also full of praise for an improving Australia side who remain unbeaten under Les Kiss.
“Australia don’t make mistakes at the lineout, and they’re always organised defensively. There are always numbers on their feet.
“They’re a technically very well-coached team. We normally find it difficult against teams that don’t miss their roles, particularly around the breakdown.”
The defeat was South Africa’s first since losing the opening Test to New Zealand in the RGR series, while Australia continued their unbeaten start under Kiss with another significant result ahead of next year’s home Rugby World Cup.
