Erasmus admits Springboks were thoroughly beaten by All Blacks

South Africa’s Springboks were beaten by New Zealand after trailing 19-16 in the 58th minute, when the match was still within reach. Rassie Erasmus said the All Blacks’ superiority across most areas of the game left his team with a substantial amount to correct.

The South African coach accepted that his side’s mistakes played a major part in the defeat. He also said those errors were not made in isolation, with New Zealand’s speed, accuracy and pressure forcing the Springboks into difficult decisions.

New Zealand scored five tries to South Africa’s one. Erasmus acknowledged that South Africa had the advantage in the scrums, but argued that success in only one or two parts of the contest could not compensate for the All Blacks’ control in other areas.

A crucial passage came when South Africa were applying pressure at a scrum while three points behind. Instead of gaining another opportunity, the Springboks conceded a penalty on their own feed. Erasmus said that even a successful kick from that position, followed by a narrow victory, would not have changed his view of the performance because too many errors had already been made.

He rejected the idea that the loss had revealed lessons the team did not already understand. In his assessment, South Africa knew what was required before the match but failed to deliver it. Several important opportunities were also wasted, allowing New Zealand to take control as the Springboks struggled to turn pressure into points.

The result came against an All Blacks side Erasmus identified as the world’s No 1 team. He said the Springboks would welcome the prospect of entering the next game as underdogs, while stressing that the defeat was caused by both New Zealand’s quality and South Africa’s failure to execute.

New Zealand’s tour continues against the British and Irish Lions in Johannesburg on Tuesday. That will be the All Blacks’ final match against a franchise team before the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday.