Rassie Erasmus didn't mince words following the Springboks' unexpected collapse against the Wallabies at Ellis Park, where they squandered a 22-point lead to lose 38-22. Former England captain Will Carling has since lauded Erasmus for his raw transparency and leadership.
Despite entering the game as reigning world champions and favorites, South Africa's performance drastically dipped, allowing Australia, under Joe Schmidt's direction, to stage a remarkable comeback. This not only dented the Springboks' title defense in the Rugby Championship but also their standing in the global rankings, causing them to fall to third while New Zealand ascended to the top.
Carling took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to express his admiration for Erasmus's candidness.
"Just listened to Rassie Erasmus’s post-match press conference. What a breath of fresh air,"
he posted.
"Open, brutally honest about performance and build-up. Stating coaches as culpable as players, if not more so. No wonder he has created such a successful environment."
The defeat was a rare low point for Erasmus’s squad, which had not experienced many setbacks since his tenure began a year and a half before their 2019 World Cup victory. Despite a strong previous season and a successful mid-year series, the Boks were visibly outplayed in the latter stages of the game, a fact Erasmus confronted head-on.
"This is one of the most embarrassing press conferences I’ve done in a long time,"
Erasmus admitted, not shy about sharing the blame.
"Not just because we were awful, but they were very good and credit to them. We as coaches got it terribly wrong and we must look firstly at ourselves. I can try butter it up and bottle it up to sound cool and respectful, but we were really dog****. The effort was maybe there but the accuracy or precision wasn’t."
The Springboks now face a critical period of introspection and recovery, especially with key players like Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit sidelined due to injuries. The Wallabies, invigorated by their performance, can anticipate a fierce challenge in the upcoming rematch in Cape Town.
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Rassie Erasmus didn't mince words following the Springboks' unexpected collapse against the Wallabies at Ellis Park, where they squandered a 22-point lead to lose 38-22. Former England captain Will Carling has since lauded Erasmus for his raw transparency and leadership.
Despite entering the game as reigning world champions and favorites, South Africa's performance drastically dipped, allowing Australia, under Joe Schmidt's direction, to stage a remarkable comeback. This not only dented the Springboks' title defense in the Rugby Championship but also their standing in the global rankings, causing them to fall to third while New Zealand ascended to the top.
Carling took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to express his admiration for Erasmus's candidness.
"Just listened to Rassie Erasmus’s post-match press conference. What a breath of fresh air,"
he posted."Open, brutally honest about performance and build-up. Stating coaches as culpable as players, if not more so. No wonder he has created such a successful environment."
The defeat was a rare low point for Erasmus’s squad, which had not experienced many setbacks since his tenure began a year and a half before their 2019 World Cup victory. Despite a strong previous season and a successful mid-year series, the Boks were visibly outplayed in the latter stages of the game, a fact Erasmus confronted head-on.
"This is one of the most embarrassing press conferences I’ve done in a long time,"
Erasmus admitted, not shy about sharing the blame."Not just because we were awful, but they were very good and credit to them. We as coaches got it terribly wrong and we must look firstly at ourselves. I can try butter it up and bottle it up to sound cool and respectful, but we were really dog****. The effort was maybe there but the accuracy or precision wasn’t."
The Springboks now face a critical period of introspection and recovery, especially with key players like Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit sidelined due to injuries. The Wallabies, invigorated by their performance, can anticipate a fierce challenge in the upcoming rematch in Cape Town.