Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was open that while their performance was far from perfect as they ground out a 17-10 victory against Argentina at Estadio José Amalfitani in Buenos Aires on Saturday, he was pleased with the character showed by the team, which marked the return of several injured players.
The teams entered the break tied at 10 points apiece, before a try in the fourth quarter by Cameron Hanekom broke the deadlock and put the Boks in front on the scoreboard, which they managed to hold onto despite a massive fightback by the hosts in the dying minutes.
“Our focus was purely on beating Argentina today, and we had a tough day out there,” said Erasmus.
“We looked leg-weary early on, gave up a lot of territory, and made errors which we knew were likely with seven or eight players having played very little rugby in the last six or seven weeks. I always expected us to look disjointed, having left fifteen players back in South Africa.
“Argentina play a different style of rugby, and the stadium is genuinely intimidating, but it’s a win although it wasn’t pretty and perfect. That said, we are happy with the result and with the way we ground it out.”
Erasmus added: “They play a similarly physical game to us, and we’ve always struggled to get on top of them physically, but to concede only one try, which came from an offload we probably should have stopped, tells me our defence was largely intact.
“Our discipline was also relatively good, but what we need to sort out is our attack. A number of players were short on game time returning from injury, but getting them through 80 minutes was always going to affect our fluency. The positive is that we got them through the game.”
Erasmus lauded Los Pumas for their fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude: “I have to give credit to them. They are a very proud rugby nation, and I always say they’ve got that same fight in them that we have back home. They’re passionate, and they never stop. What pleased me today was that we won the physical battle.”
The Bok coach added: “We never expected a comfortable win for either side. In fact, we always thought it would be a tight match, and to win by a narrow margin, when they were pushing hard for a result in their own right to the end, tells you it could easily have gone the other way, or finished level.
“So, we’re pleased with where we are because we were never going to come here and run away with it.”
Of the character the players show to grind out the match, Erasmus said: “We’re not happy with the performance itself, but we’re happy with the character the players showed. A lot of the group haven’t played in a while, and we had a few younger players in this squad who brought real energy. So, we’re not saying we played well, but we’re very happy with how hard we ground this one out.
“The lesson is that knockout-level rugby is always close. Rugby World Cup pool games can sometimes be a bit more comfortable, but this is exactly the kind of match you learn from.
“Even if we had drawn tonight, we would have still learned a lot about grinding out a result with a crowd going wild, and Argentina were strong in those closing minutes. For us to stay calm through that, even without playing our best rugby, tells me we’re handling pressure a little better than before.”
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who left the field with a hamstring injury in the first half, echoed Erasmus’ sentiments about the force Los Pumas have become, and he was equally pleased with how his charges rose to the challenge.
“I think, going back to last week, everyone said Argentina’s earlier result (against England) didn’t count for much, but even a draw would have earned them a good return,” said Kolisi.
“We have a huge amount of respect for them, and we could easily have lost this game. Home or away, they’re one of the toughest teams we play all year. I thought it was going to be a real battle, and we were fortunate to come through it.”
The Springboks will make the journey back to South Africa in two groups on Sunday and Monday where they will join up with the rest of their teammates in Johannesburg who have already turned their focus to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, presented by Castle Double Malt, against New Zealand.
barbera shift
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Sleepwalker
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