TaCKLED by Australia’s Noah Lolesio, Cheslin Kolbe will be key for the Springboks as they look a whtewash of Australia Down Under. | AFP
The Boks won 33-7 but the score was kind to the Australians and Erasmus wants his team to have a stronger killer instinct when the opposition is reeling.
“We are happy with the performance, but not the three yellow cards. We also didn’t cherish the ball and look after it like it was a piece of gold, but at times we played with good structure and intent. So, we certainly don’t want to throw points away like we did,” said Erasmus.
The coach was annoyed that the Wallabies were allowed a consolation try at the end.
“We would have liked to keep them scoreless, but it would be arrogant to say that. The reality is we wanted to come here and win, and we are delighted that we were able to do that,” he said.
“Next week is a new Test and we want to give other players a chance, but that said, we know (Australia coach) Joe Schmidt and how he can turn things around.
“He’s only had four games with Australia, and next week is a new game and a new venue, and we are expecting a big challenge.”
Kolisi added: “Next week is going to be a completely different challenge and we know it will be tough. But this was an important away win for us and a special one too. In the last few years, we didn’t start well away from home, so to get this win was special and we are really happy about earning the bonus point.
“We haven’t done well in Australia, so we were very focused on turning that around, even though this ground is a fortress for them, because as I said earlier in the week, we knew we couldn’t win the Rugby Championship here, but we could lose it here.”
Kolisi echoed Erasmus’ sentiments about the missed opportunities and said: “We played well at moments, but we also left a lot of points out there.”
The Springboks scored five tries to one and with more accurate finishing they could have scored four more.
The Bok forward engine purred despite a late injury change. Pieter-Steph du Toit started at lock and Ben-Jason Dixon was promoted to flanker (with Salmaan Moerat providing lock cover on the bench) after RG Snyman failed to recover from a foot injury.
Erasmus said: “RG picked up a foot niggle during the week and didn’t pass a fitness test. The plan was that Ruan (Nortje) would have started, but he hurt his knee, so we opted to start Ben-Jason with Pieter-Steph at lock, and we thought he did well against their tall forwards.”
Erasmus said that neither of the injuries to Snyman and Nortje were serious enough to warrant them returning to South Africa, meaning they could be in the selection mix in Perth next week.
Suncorp was packed with noisy Springbok supporters and Kolisi said it almost felt like a home game.
“The people of South Africa always make an effort to come out and support us and it was great to feel that. We know next week will be the same in Perth,” the Bok skipper said. “It’s a privilege for us to do what we do, and we want to come out next week and build on this performance.”
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