mens
international
Rassie Erasmus refused to hide behind refereeing issues, technological glitches or weariness Rugby Championship schedule after South Africa’s dramatic 42-38 defeat of Australia in Perth.
Despite the match being repeatedly interrupted by reviews, communication problems and an extraordinary period in which the Wallabies were reduced to just 11 men by referee Andrea Piardi, the Springbok boss insisted the result was down to his side’s shortcomings.
Erasmus admitted South Africa “rolled the dice” with the experimental selection and accepted that Australia were the better team on the night, and went out of his way to praise Piardi and his team of officials for managing a chaotic contest in difficult circumstances.
“I did, maybe not to this extent. But I guess for the neutrals it must have been a really exciting game to watch and for Australia it must be great,” Erasmus said. “For us, we lost in the Springbok jersey, and against Australia. With all the distractions and things that happened, we have no one else to blame for the result but ourselves.”
“I know the technology went down a bit and there were a lot of beats that sometimes ran and didn’t stop, but that didn’t affect how we played. We controlled how we were going to play and today we didn’t play well enough to beat Australia.”
The Wallabies nearly blew a 25-point lead to the visitors and Erasmus admitted his side were ultimately to blame for finding themselves with that proverbial mountain to climb.
“It’s hard when there are reviews and the clock is running and then you lose 20 seconds, then there’s another review and you lose another five seconds. But we played in that position where we were 25 points behind, so we have no one else to blame. It’s us.
“We rolled the dice a little bit, and some guys haven’t played a lot together in a long time. Not as an excuse: We picked a team and we had a game plan, and our game plan and our players and our coaching staff didn’t beat them in the end.”
“I thought we had a chance at the end. I thought maybe the cross where he scored – if we hadn’t lost another 30 seconds there, obviously we could have. But if we didn’t play in that position ourselves, the better team won the night.”
Erasmus also praised the referees for the way they dealt with a technical breakdown in their communications, which saw them using mobile phones to communicate.
“Just in the changing room, I think the way the referees handled the game without communication was outstanding. I know it looked chaotic, but I thought they got a lot of things right by being on the phone.”
Erasmus also refused to put the blame on a tired side after their victorious Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series win over New Zealand.
“Look, it was a long shot, but if we had won this game at the end, we would have said, ‘Hey guys, it’s great. We’re together, we’re enjoying (it), we’re a solid team.’ And since we lost, we are not a solid team. We enjoy each other’s company and, to be honest, losing games sucks. We don’t enjoy it.
“We know our South Africans, where they are now, and we know how they feel now, and we don’t want to give them that feeling. So, no, it’s not because we’ve been together too long. It’s because we haven’t played well.”
