Sloppy Springboks fail to impress coach
DURBAN: South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was critical of his side after they defeated Argentina 34-21 in their Rugby Championship opener at Kings Park stadium in Durban on Saturday.
Erasmus said his team were far from where they needed to be and rated only 25 minutes of the game as “satisfactory” as the hosts scored six tries to Argentina’s three.
The Springboks were sloppy, but had enough dominance to secure a bonuspoint win.
They are equal on five points with the title-holders and world champions New Zealand, who beat Australia 38-13, after the first round.
“I think the only really good part was the first 25 minutes in the second half. It was the only really decent rugby we played,” Erasmus told a media conference.
“But Francois Louw only [had] a preseason, Faf [De Klerk] was also having a pre-season and has not played for a while,” Erasmus said.
“Damian Willemse came back from a six-week knee injury and the same with Eben [Etzebeth].
“I was expecting I would say, not a fluent display, but it was worse than I thought in the first half.
“Luckily, Siya [Kolisi] and the boys fixed it at half-time. I think we got dragged into the pace that the Pumas played.
“We got sucked in and struggled to switch it on until the second half, and then we were really better.”
The sides clash again in Mendoza next Saturday and Erasmus is expecting an Argentine onslaught.
“All of the players who have gone there — they know what it is about,” Erasmus added.
“We will make a few changes. We will definitely select a different team and four or five changes will be there.
“There will be a massive onslaught from their side and they will throw everything at us. So it will be a different challenge.”
Springbok captain Kolisi said his team’s discipline had to improve.
“Our discipline set us back a bit and we missed a few opportunities, but the best thing was our intensity.
“We always want to get better and better and we will be focusing on that this week.”
FOLAU OUT OF SECOND TEST
Wallabies star Israel Folau was yesterday ruled out of the second Bledisloe Cup Test with an ankle injury, in a further blow to Australia after their big loss to New Zealand.
Full-back Folau limped off in the 65th minute in the first Test in Sydney on Saturday, as the All Blacks thumped the Wallabies 38-13 in a clash that doubled as the Rugby Championship opener.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said the 29-year-old had a “small tear in a muscle right down low” but added that it was “just a lot of swelling” and not a long-term injury.
The All Blacks have also been hit by injuries ahead of next week’s clash in Auckland, with Ryan Crotty and Rieko Ioane both sidelined.