Boks must rebound

THE Springboks squandered a golden opportunity to build confidence ahead of what will be a testing tour of Australia and New Zealand when they unexpectedly lost to Argentina in Mendoza.

It was a perplexing turn of events for Rassie Erasmus’s charges after they comprehensively defeated the same Pumas team in Durban the previous week.

Bok supporters had expected more of the same from their team, notwithstanding a backlash from the passionate Pumas on home soil, but sadly, the Boks did not deliver on the promise they have shown since Erasmus took charge in June.

The weekend’s match was regarded by the coach as a building block to the perceived greater challenges imminent in Brisbane and Wellington.

It was meant to be a confidence booster given the Boks’ unfortunate away record in recent years, but now the team sets forth for Australia on Saturday for their Rugby Championship match on September 8 doubting their abilities.

It is indeed a major setback for Erasmus, who now has just 13 matches until the Springboks’ opening World Cup match against the All Blacks in Japan.

This is the selfsame All Blacks that are imperiously sweeping all before them in the rugby world.

On the morning the Boks lost in Argentina, the New Zealanders ruthlessly put Australia’s Wallabies to the sword in Auckland, having also routed the Aussies the previous week in Sydney.

And these Kiwis loom large for the Boks, who play them in Wellington on September 15, a fixture made all the more intimidating by the South Africans’ demoralising defeat in Mendoza.

Full marks to Erasmus for taking the loss on the chin. He has offered no excuses and said the blame rests primarily with the coach. He and his players have had a reality check after their series triumph against England.

In beating the English, the Boks won over fans with their never-say-die attitude, and they are going to require more of that fighting stance if they are to recover from this disappointing 32-19 defeat.

The Boks have shown too much good stuff in their six Tests under Erasmus for the weekend’s setback to suggest we have suffered a false dawn.

We back the Boks to bounce back.