No excuses from Erasmus as thrilling series is shared

The Springboks lamented a sub-standard first half but made no excuses after Ireland grabbed a dramatic 25-24 victory (half-time 16-6) to level the Castle Lager Incoming Series over the Springboks (1-1) in Durban on Saturday evening.

The Boks ‘won’ the second half 18-9 but a last-gasp drop goal by replacement flyhalf Ciaran Frawley edged the tourists to victory.

“We can sit here with a sad face and think of excuses, but the best team won on the day,” said Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus. “We’re really disappointed and the fans will be disappointed.

“But this was like the past four games we have played against them – all the margins have been less than one score – but main concern was that first half. We fought back from a long way at halftime and converted when we had to but in that last minute, they were better than us.”

Bok captain Siya Kolisi said that the players would spend some time reflecting on their own performances.

“The way we started wasn’t good, and we’ve only got ourselves to blame” he said.

“We weren’t all on the same page or firing at the same time, but you must also give credit to the guys who came on to fight our way back into the game.

“We would have loved to have won the series – the people who were here today were amazing in the way they supported us. It would have been great to win the series and we’re definitely hurting, but we’re not dead and we will come back again.

“We allowed them to set the tone for the game in the first half. There’s so much we can improve as a group. Each of us as an individual is going to look at ourselves. Hopefully we can rectify this next time out.”

The defeat was only the third for the Boks in 18 matches stretching back to the end of 2022. They are next in action against Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday when Erasmus said changes had already been planned.

“Next week we will pick a totally different team that has been announced internally already,” he said. “The boys who played here will help prepare for Portugal until Wednesday and then they’ll have a ten-day break.”

Erasmus said he was hoping the newcomers would a similar impact to that of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, a replacement in the second minute for Wille le Roux who went off for concussion.

“It’ll be interesting to see if we can get the same out of them that we got out of Sacha today,” said Erasmus. “When Willie’s there our attack functions a bit better but Sacha definitely brings something else to the game with individual brilliance that’s not always structured.

“He did not look out of place in his third game. Willie’s not one of the youngest or the fastest anymore but he links the two wings and centres with one another. Sacha can take a lot from playing against a team that is really well organised and is ranked in the top one or two in the world.

“It’s going to be really interesting to see how they compete for the different spots in the future when a guy like Gaza [Damian Willemse] and Canan [Moodie] comes back.”

The Springbok team to play Portugal is scheduled to be named on Tuesday.