Rassie Erasmus hands Boks brutal changing room message after record win

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has said that his side will “definitely enjoy” their record defeat over the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship, but said their progress will be measured by how they perform in their next two matches against Argentina.

The 43-10 victory in Wellington means the Championship is wide open, with only two points separating leaders Australia and the fourth-place Pumas.

Each side has won two matches and lost two matches, and Erasmus will know that any sub-par performances against Felipe Contepomi’s side could prevent them from defending their title. He revealed that that was his message to his team in the Wellington changing rooms after the match, that they have “achieved nothing” with their dominant display.

While he strived to bring his side “back to reality” with his message, he did not want to take the gloss of one of the all-time great performances, identifying the belief that the team had, and the belief he had in his selections, as a determining factor.

Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Australia

4

2

2

0

11

2

New Zealand

3

2

1

0

10

3

Argentina

4

2

2

0

9

4

South Africa

3

1

2

0

5

“We spoke in the changing room, we’ve achieved nothing,” the World Cup-winning coach said. “We’re in the mix for the Rugby Championship, but Australia and New Zealand will sort each other out, and we have to play a really energetic, well-drilled Argentinian team in a couple of weeks’ time.

“I think we’re getting better. I think the first 30 minutes we still made a lot of errors, but I think there’s a belief that you can do it, express yourself. It’s the guys that are not playing that gives those guys belief.

“New Zealand will go through the same. They are going to pick themselves up and understand. People always say you must build depth, but some people say that you’re taking chances. It’s a 24 hour job, keeping confidence. Nowadays on social media and what people say, you have to 24 hours believe in yourself, believe in your team-mates, believe in your coaches and believe when you announce a team on a Sunday evening after New Zealand smashed us last week. It’s a 24 hour job to keep believing. If you’re going to fall, fall on your own sword. Don’t start pleasing people. When you start pleasing just the people in the changing room and the South African people, we got to the other side.

“Hopefully we are building, and people can see that we’re building, but the next results are going to determine where we are really.

“The reality is, Argentina will look at our attack and our scrums and our lineouts, then it’s the next game again. We’re going to enjoy tonight, we’re going to definitely enjoy tonight, but when you’re back on the plane and landing in South Africa, then it’s back to reality again.

“New Zealand didn’t rub it in our faces last week when they got the Eden Park record and they kept it. For us, it’s nice to have a winning margin like that, but the reality is tomorrow is a new day.”