Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has called for an improved performance from his team ahead of their upcoming Tests against France and Ireland, despite being pleased with their emphatic 66-7 victory over Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday.
The Boks made an impressive start to their Nations Championship Northern Series campaign, running in six tries to establish a commanding 45-0 lead at half-time. They added another three tries in the second half to secure a comprehensive 66-7 victory, conceding just one try in the match.
However, Erasmus admitted that there was room for improvement, particularly in the second half, as the Springboks prepare for two challenging encounters against France and Ireland.
The coach was also forced to make a late change to his match-day squad shortly before kick-off after lock Salmaan Moerat withdrew due to a back injury sustained during the warm-up.
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Lood de Jager consequently moved into the starting line-up, while Franco Mostert was brought onto the bench.
“Salmaan had a little bit of a back spasm on Thursday, but we thought it would clear up,” said Erasmus.
“He looked good at the captain’s practice, but unfortunately, in the warm-up, he got more back spasms, so hopefully it’s not too serious. He’s the only casualty we have from the game. I don’t think there are any other serious injuries.”
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Erasmus acknowledged that maintaining a high level of intensity throughout the 80 minutes was challenging.
“It’s almost impossible to put 80 minutes together at 100%. Obviously, we’re not happy with the second half. We scored 45 points in the first half, and the final score was 66, so we got another 21 points in the second half,” he said.
He added that Italy showed resilience despite trailing heavily at half-time, while the Springboks’ substitutions also affected the team’s rhythm.
“Italy are a proud team, and despite being 45 points down, they started running the ball from everywhere, while we also made some changes that we wanted to see, and with that one loses a bit of rhythm.
“But when you win 66-7, I don’t think you can start nitpicking problems in the second half. It wasn’t perfect, but it was proper.
“That said, we have to play much better than this if we want to be competitive against France and Ireland. But it’s nice to know that after being a month away from one another, the boys got together and played like that.”
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Erasmus was also pleased with the team’s discipline, highlighting the relatively low number of penalties conceded during the encounter.
“I think we only conceded one penalty in the first half, and about five penalties and five turnovers in the game, which is pretty disciplined, even though the second half was a little soft,” he said.
Asked about the factors behind the Springboks’ ability to maintain consistency and successfully integrate new players into the squad, Erasmus pointed to the team’s experience and familiarity with its systems.
“The biggest thing is that we’ve been together for eight years now, and we’re slowly bringing in guys like Ethan (Hooker), ‘Krappie’ (Morne van den Berg), Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu), Ruan (Nortje), Cameron (Hanekom), Jan-Hendrik (Wessels), and Thomas (du Toit) is now back with us too,” he explained.
He said the team’s established structures and the players’ understanding of the coaching system made it easier to introduce new faces without disrupting their performance.
“So we’ve been able to bring people in here and there, and when you go to a game like this and pick a team that’s match fit and ready, and everybody is calm and understands the system because we’ve been coaching them for a while, it’s satisfying.”
The Springboks will depart for Paris on Saturday evening, where they will begin preparations for their next assignment against France at the Stade de France on Friday.