Advertisement
Wales got their summer tour off to a flying start in Washington yesterday. Getty Images
Bad start

Erasmus: Pressure on the Springboks already after late Wales defeat

South Africa face England in a three-Test series, and Erasmus knows huge improvements will need to be made.

RASSIE ERASMUS ACKNOWLEDGES South Africa are under pressure to deliver a result against England, having suffered a dramatic late defeat to Wales on Saturday.

Erasmus, in his first match at the helm, looked to be guiding a new-look Springboks side to victory after an impressive fightback at RFK Stadium, but Ryan Elias’ scrappy last-ditch try – scored after a series of errors – turned the game around.

With three home Tests against England up next, South Africa are looking to improve quickly.

“We will have to step up against England,” Erasmus said. “We know the pressure will be on us to win, just as they would also be under pressure to be successful following their recent results.”

There were 13 maiden Boks caps handed out by Erasmus in Washington DC, but he takes little comfort from the positives of such a frustrating loss.

He said: “The one positive for me is that there were quite a few new players who got caps today and now know what it’s like to play against a quality team like the Welsh.

“But it’s still a Test that we lost and that hurt.

“It’s never nice when you play your first Test and you lose, and we didn’t want that result, but we wanted to get all of the uncapped players on the field and start building towards the future.

“However, we still lost and that almost nullified the fact that we capped a lot of new players.”

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!

Ireland’s speedster Jordan Conroy is lighting up the London 7s with his blistering pace

Australia’s only capped hooker ruled out with suspected cruciate injury

Your Voice
Readers Comments
11
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel