“Not Catastrophic”: Erasmus Recalls Past Comebacks After All Blacks Hand Boks “Proper Hiding”
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has urged his team to respond rather than panic after the All Blacks inflicted a 33-16 defeat on South Africa in the opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry on Saturday.
The All Blacks outscored the Springboks five tries to one in a dominant performance that left Erasmus demanding significant improvements ahead of Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
Despite the heavy defeat, Erasmus drew on previous Springbok setbacks, including losses to the British & Irish Lions in 2021 and New Zealand at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to emphasise that the series remains alive.
“We have been in many catastrophic situations in our lives,” said Erasmus.
“We lost the first Test against the British & Irish Lions [in 2021], and everyone said it was a catastrophe.
“We lost the first pool game against New Zealand in the World Cup [in 2019], and everyone said that was catastrophic. So, we have been in a lot of catastrophic situations.
“We’re now in a position where, if we want to win the series, we have to win three games on the trot. Without doubt, it puts them in a very good position, which they thoroughly deserve.
“Now we have to go to Cape Town and try to win there. If we do, it’s all level, but we still have to win three matches in a row.
“I wouldn’t say it’s catastrophic because there is a way out, and that’s winning three matches on the trot.”
Erasmus: All Blacks Deserved Their Victory
Erasmus acknowledged that the Springboks contributed to their own downfall through a series of errors, but he also credited the All Blacks for forcing those mistakes with their intensity and precision.
“We were thoroughly beaten by a team that is now No. 1 in the world – it’ll be nice to go into the next game as the underdogs,” he joked.
“I think we were dominant in the scrums, but it doesn’t help you if you’re dominant in one or two parts of the game. The All Blacks were more dominant in most parts of the game.
“I’m not going to butter it up with that cliché and say we’re going to learn from this and get better. We didn’t need to learn from this; we knew what we had to do on the day – we didn’t do it.”
Which Moments Changed the Test?
Erasmus highlighted several key moments that allowed the All Blacks to take control of the contest.
The Springboks trailed 19-16 in the 58th minute when they were applying pressure at scrum time. However, New Zealand won a penalty from the Springboks’ own feed, denying the hosts an opportunity to level the contest.
“Even if we had kicked over that scrum penalty and we won, we still made a helluva lot of errors,” Erasmus said.
“But it wasn’t a wake-up call. There were just so many things that we did wrong and that New Zealand did right, so I’m not going to say we learnt a lot of things from this match.
“There would have been a lot of things we’d have to put right even if we had scratched through this match with a one-point win.
“We didn’t play well. Against a class team like New Zealand, if you don’t convert, they give you a proper hiding.
“With hindsight, there were a lot of things we didn’t convert. I think there were two or three big moments when we let the game go away from us.
“Not because we wanted to or because we wanted to make those errors, but because New Zealand forced those errors on us by being really intense and sharp.”
Springboks Face Immediate Response Test
The result leaves the Springboks with little margin for error in the series. They must regroup quickly and produce a significantly improved performance when they return to Cape Town on Saturday.
Before then, the All Blacks will face the 10bet Lions in Johannesburg on Tuesday in their final match against a franchise team before the second Test.
For Erasmus and the Springboks, however, the focus will remain firmly on correcting the shortcomings exposed at Ellis Park and finding a response in Cape Town.
