Rassie Erasmus tackles elephant in room: The Boks' style of play

Rassie Erasmus has confronted head-on the long-standing debate around the Springboks’ playing style after they ground out a clunky 30-22 win over the Wallabies in Cape Town.

Erasmus admitted after the match that while South African supporters crave both victories and an attractive brand of rugby, the world champions remain most comfortable in contests that descend into an arm-wrestle.

The Springboks edged Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies a week after their eight-match winning streak was broken in Johannesburg.

That Ellis Park loss fuelled questions around South Africa’s approach, with Erasmus acknowledging the passion and scrutiny that comes from fans when results slip.

“A lot of people tend to think when we lose a game, you know, there are all these massive problems and everybody starts analysing the squad and stuff – which is passionate supporters,” Erasmus said. “We know there were some handling errors – although the conditions played a part in that – but their back three was fantastic and this game gave us a good taste of what we are going to see when we play New Zealand because they have lightning backs as well.”

Australia matched South Africa with three tries apiece, but James O’Connor’s wayward kicking and the Boks’ ability to close out the contest ultimately proved decisive.

For Erasmus, the performance was far from flawless, but it was evidence of what kind of game his team clearly prefers.

“We played a more balanced game this week,” he explained. “I don’t think we created 50 percent of what we created last weekend but we ground the game out, when we thought it was going to be a grind.

“We are trying to please our crowds by winning and playing a better brand and sometimes we get it wrong like we did last weekend, but sometimes when we get into games like this where it’s a real grind we tend to find a way.

“We tend to struggle when it’s an open, free-running game – it’s beautiful rugby but you lose on the scoreboard. Overall, we’ll learn from this and hopefully the tighter the matches get, we’ll get more comfortable with it as we have been in the past.”

Wallabies counterpart Schmidt admitted he fully expected the Boks to return to their rugby DNA in the rematch.

“I think they had 35 kicks in play, so they certainly peppered us with balls in the air and balls behind us,” said Schmidt. “It wasn’t something we didn’t expect.”