Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks only had themselves to blame for Sunday’s 42-38 defeat to the Wallabies in Perth.
The Boks trailed 24-17 at half-time and fell 42-17 behind after 63 minutes before a late fightback brought them within four points.
But despite the dramatic finish, Erasmus refused to make excuses for the defeat, accepting that the Boks had put themselves in a position from which they ultimately could not recover.
“It’s sh*t to lose for us, we don’t enjoy it,” Erasmus told the media. “We know how South Africans feel now and we don’t want to give them that feeling. For us, we lost in a Springbok jersey against Australia, and with all the disruptions, we have nobody else to blame but ourselves for the result.”
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The match was disrupted by technical issues, from a faulty stadium clock to the referee’s comms with the TMO, but Erasmus dismissed any suggestion that this had contributed to the Boks’ defeat.
“I know the technology failed a bit, the clock kept running and didn’t stop at times for example, but that didn’t influence how we played. We controlled that,” he said. “We didn’t play well enough tonight to beat a stronger team.”
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The Boks had made several changes to the side that beat the All Blacks in Baltimore, with Erasmus acknowledging that the lack of recent combinations played a role. However, he was adamant that it could not be used as a reason for the defeat.
“When you’re 25 points behind, there’s nobody else to blame but yourself. We rolled the dice a bit, and some guys haven’t played a lot together in a long time, but it’s not an excuse. We picked the team, and we had a game plan, and I thought we had a chance at the end, but the better team won on the night.
“It’s sad to lose, but it’s not because we’ve been together too long. It’s because we didn’t play well enough.”
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Erasmus acknowledged the improvement in the Wallabies under coach Les Kiss and said the experience could prove valuable if the sides meet again at the World Cup.
“Australia are a good team and they’ve definitely improved a lot. They played at home and they’re the World Cup hosts next year,” he said.
“We might meet them in a vital playoff game, and it was nice to get a taste of them tonight. When we play them next year, we’ll know a little bit more about each other.
“I’m not going to say it was a case of lessons learned, but I think it was a valuable experience.”
Photo: Antony Dickson/Gallo Images
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