Rassie Erasmus calls on Springboks to 'find a way back' after All Blacks hiding
Rassie Erasmus accepted that the Springboks were outplayed in their 31-16 Ellis Park defeat to New Zealand, but urged his team to shut out the criticism.
Rassie Erasmus acknowledged the Springboks suffered a significant defeat against New Zealand at Ellis Park, with the All Blacks triumphing 31-16. Despite the heavy loss, Erasmus urged his team to focus on regaining their footing and disproving critics. He admitted the performance was "terrible" and that the scoreboard ultimately matters.
Erasmus' veteran status saw him draw on past experiences of similar setbacks, but stressed the need to bounce back against a formidable New Zealand side. Injuries plagued the Springboks, forcing Erasmus to reshuffle his bench strategy, with key players such as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, and Cobus Reinach suffering setbacks.
This disrupted the team's planned lineup and left Erasmus with the difficult task of adapting his tactics under pressure. Injuries also impacted the kicking game, with Manie Libbok stepping up as the most accurate kicker. Yellow cards to Marco van Staden and Reinach further hampered the Springboks, making it challenging to regain their advantage after trailing.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
