Rassie content with Boks’ win despite flaws

It was full of flaws and imprecision but the Springboks showed their champion qualities by slugging out a 29-20 victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus needs no reminding of their shortfalls but he pronounced himself content with the result as his team won their second clash on their three-match tour of the UK.

“It's tough. Like last week we had a good winning margin but we can say the score didn't reflect how close the game was,” said the coach.

“It was a one-try game and competitive as hell. We are getting disrupted with injuries. Ox [Nché] went off early so we didn't get the fresh legs on when we wanted to.

“Lukhanyo [Am] brought some energy, so did Vincent [Koch], Malcolm [Marx] and Cobus [Reinach] as well. We weren't happy with the performance but when you play at Twickenham and beat them by nine points we are content that we beat them.”

Misfiring in many key areas of the game the Boks have to find ways to get the job done. Their scrum lost some of its potency once Nché left the field in the 33rd minute, their line-out continues to hit and miss, while they were knocked out of their stride at the ruck where some of England's bruisers made their presence felt.

In strapping England fullback Freddie Steward they found an unflappable master of the high ball. No gains were to be made there.

The Boks, however, know how to see out tight contests. They are now hard-wired to do that and despite the less than stable platforms they found ways to see England off.

“I definitely think it is experience,” Erasmus said about his team's ability to farm the small margins.

“The team that we put out has played together. They played in the last [Rugby Championship] Test against Argentina.

“Getting yellow cards is not something we are proud of but hanging in there takes some character and good planning,” he said about Gerhard Steenekamp's banishment to the sin bin in the 68th minute.

Some of the Boks' problem-solving is rooted in their versatility.

“Like Vincent going to loose head,” Erasmus said. “We marked it like that on the team sheet. If he was unable to do that we would have gone to uncontested scrums, which would have meant we go to 13 men.

“Then we would have struggled to keep them out. I think on the field there were calm heads that handled it well.”

Captain Siya Kolisi was quick to point out it was not a case of England, who have now lost seven of their last nine Tests, showing any less desire than the Boks who have now won nine of their 11 Tests this year.

“England wouldn't have believed less. We play until the last whistle is blown. The coaches talk about chasing lost causes and it doesn't matter what the score is,” Kolisi stressed.

The win puts Erasmus within touching distance of ticking another box in charge of the Boks.

They have won Rugby Championships, won in New Zealand, broke their losing sequence at some grounds in Australia, won a series against the British & Irish Lions and have secured back-to-back Rugby World Cups. Under Erasmus they are yet to go unbeaten on an end-of-year tour. In fact, the last time it was achieved was in 2013 under then head coach Heyneke Meyer.

Victory over Wales in Cardiff next weekend will give the coach that, which would be immensely satisfying considering the way in which he has sacrificed continuity in selection at the altar of squad depth. Against England, Wilco Louw became the 50th player to represent the Boks this year.

Constant squad rotation has robbed some players of the chance to gain familiarity and confidence in their respective positions. Grant Williams, though brilliant from broken play, was perhaps an example of someone who would have commanded his post behind the pack with greater authority had he more game time under the belt.

The same perhaps held true for Jaden Hendrikse a week earlier. Having missed out last week, Aphelele Fassi, though in the form of his life, was less assured against England.

The collective gains the Boks have made, however, have made it all worthwhile and they are achieving the goal of building squad depth while winning.

“We want to give guys opportunities to play on this tour,” Erasmus reminded. “Against England it was going to be difficult, our track record here isn't great.

“We were seven points down, only had five forwards on the bench but still won by more than seven and had a bit of a window at the end.”