Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus laments ‘silly errors’, promises changes for Wellington

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has admitted his team were the architects of their own downfall in Saturday’s 24-17 defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park — and hinted at changes ahead of this week’s must-win clash in Wellington.

The Boks found themselves 14-0 down after a chaotic opening quarter and never fully recovered, despite a spirited second-half fightback that fell just short of salvaging a draw.

“It’s not always the same players making the mistakes, and some of them were stupid errors,” said Erasmus after the game. “And the errors come in different facets of the game.

“But as coaches, we pick the players, and as management, we have to sometimes put up our hands and say we got it wrong.

“If we got it right every week, we would be No 1 in the world forever. The bottom line is that we did not get it right in this game, and we will have to adjust.”

Erasmus was particularly frustrated by two early defensive lapses that led to tries for Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan.

“We made two individual errors and they scored tries, and the other times they had to grind, so it’s frustrating,” he said.

“Malcolm [Marx] missed a tackle — although he played well otherwise. And Willie [le Roux] will accept that he got it wrong in that tackle on Narawa. I’m not sure what he tried to do. The guy just got up and scored.

“Suddenly you are 14 points down, the rain starts coming down, and you’re chasing your own tail. We put ourselves in that position.”

Erasmus also pointed to breakdown inefficiency as a key factor, noting that scrumhalf Grant Williams struggled behind a pack unable to deliver clean ball.

“The rucks were messy. We can’t blame the weather — New Zealand played in the same conditions with the same ball, and theirs was much steadier,” he said.

“It was not Grant’s fault. We can’t pin it on him. It’s how the ball came out. There was nothing illegal — we just didn’t control it well.”

There were positives, though, particularly the impact of the bench in the final quarter.

“The guys coming on brought some energy and some fight,” Erasmus said. “It was the right thing to have the 5-3 split. The backline guys that came on had a big impact.

“I thought Cobus [Reinach] settled down the breakdowns. Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] was electric with ball in hand, and Ethan Hooker was very good in the air.”

Erasmus downplayed concerns over the misfiring lineout, putting the blame on conditions rather than personnel.

“Each team lost three lineouts. The conditions were not easy,” he said. “We tried plays that weren’t just about securing the ball, but doing something with it.

“It wasn’t an individual issue — more a reflection of the weather. I think their kicking game was better than ours. They kicked lower, almost like half-punts between the fullback and the first line of defence. I thought that was clever, especially in the weather.”

Looking ahead to the decisive clash in Wellington, Erasmus confirmed the Boks are still firmly in the Rugby Championship race, despite sitting five points behind the All Blacks.

“The table now is 10 points for New Zealand, nine for Australia, and five each for us and Argentina. So there’s still a lot to play for,” he said.

“I think it was two teams desperate to win. The play was conservative, their tries came from kicks, and ours from close-range phases. Maybe it opens up next week.

“But we’ll definitely make some changes for that game.”