In a nail-biter at Twickenham, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus hinted at a stroke of luck for Canan Moodie, who narrowly avoided a red card in their latest Rugby Championship skirmish against Argentina. Moodie, already carded once for a high tackle, flirted with further sanction after a questionable swipe at an Argentine pass. Despite similar actions costing players in previous matches, the officials dismissed it as a mere knock-on. This decision allowed Moodie to finish the game, which South Africa squeezed out by just two points to cling onto their championship title.
Erasmus, while careful not to lay blame, couldn't mask his relief post-game. "At halftime, you could see the fatigue setting in. We were missing tackles, Argentina was upping their game, and then the yellow card," Erasmus reflected. "
"I'm not criticizing the referee, but I'm pretty sure Canan was lucky he didn't get a red card for that tap down, almost two yellow cards there."
A few of their tackles, I thought, 'Wasn't that maybe a red card', and there were one or two hits where I thought that might have been a yellow. I'm not blaming the referee, but there were close calls that could have changed the game even more."
The Springboks entered the match as favorites, fresh off a decisive victory over Los Pumas in Durban. Yet, the Argentine side, coached by Felipe Contepomi, displayed formidable resistance, pushing the champions to their limits. "Argentina have a massive fight in them and they took us to the gutters," Erasmus admitted. "When Manie didn’t kick the ball out, we were going for a third try, and then, we wouldn’t have won the title on net points in the series against New Zealand; we would have won it straight out. Overall, happy that we won, but definitely not satisfied with our performance."
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi echoed his coach's sentiments, emphasizing the psychological adjustments required mid-game. "The message at halftime was simple, and we all felt the same: we needed to play more together; we made mistakes, and the discipline wasn't good enough," Kolisi stated. "
"You have to give credit to Argentina, you make mistakes and get ill-disciplined because of the pressure they built."
And in the second half, we were able to just jump straight back into it and change our mindsets."
As the world champions gear up for their end-of-year tour, the Springboks sit atop the global rankings, but with a clear understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. This victory, though hard-fought, serves as a crucial learning curve for a team determined to stay ahead in the cutthroat arena of international rugby.
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In a nail-biter at Twickenham, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus hinted at a stroke of luck for Canan Moodie, who narrowly avoided a red card in their latest Rugby Championship skirmish against Argentina. Moodie, already carded once for a high tackle, flirted with further sanction after a questionable swipe at an Argentine pass. Despite similar actions costing players in previous matches, the officials dismissed it as a mere knock-on. This decision allowed Moodie to finish the game, which South Africa squeezed out by just two points to cling onto their championship title.
Erasmus, while careful not to lay blame, couldn't mask his relief post-game. "At halftime, you could see the fatigue setting in. We were missing tackles, Argentina was upping their game, and then the yellow card," Erasmus reflected. "
"I'm not criticizing the referee, but I'm pretty sure Canan was lucky he didn't get a red card for that tap down, almost two yellow cards there."
A few of their tackles, I thought, 'Wasn't that maybe a red card', and there were one or two hits where I thought that might have been a yellow. I'm not blaming the referee, but there were close calls that could have changed the game even more."The Springboks entered the match as favorites, fresh off a decisive victory over Los Pumas in Durban. Yet, the Argentine side, coached by Felipe Contepomi, displayed formidable resistance, pushing the champions to their limits. "Argentina have a massive fight in them and they took us to the gutters," Erasmus admitted. "When Manie didn’t kick the ball out, we were going for a third try, and then, we wouldn’t have won the title on net points in the series against New Zealand; we would have won it straight out. Overall, happy that we won, but definitely not satisfied with our performance."
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi echoed his coach's sentiments, emphasizing the psychological adjustments required mid-game. "The message at halftime was simple, and we all felt the same: we needed to play more together; we made mistakes, and the discipline wasn't good enough," Kolisi stated. "
"You have to give credit to Argentina, you make mistakes and get ill-disciplined because of the pressure they built."
And in the second half, we were able to just jump straight back into it and change our mindsets."As the world champions gear up for their end-of-year tour, the Springboks sit atop the global rankings, but with a clear understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. This victory, though hard-fought, serves as a crucial learning curve for a team determined to stay ahead in the cutthroat arena of international rugby.