Erasmus: We didn’t cherish ball and look after it like gold

AFTER easing past Australia with a phenomenal all-court game in Brisbane, South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus is expecting a reaction next week from the Wallabies when they meet again in Perth.

“Next week is a new Test and we want to give other players a chance,” said Erasmus.

“But that said we know Joe Schmidt (Australia head coach) and how he can turn things around. He's only had four games with Australia. Next week is a new game, a new venue, and we expect a big challenge.

“We are happy with the performance, but not the three yellow cards. We also didn't cherish the ball and look after it like a piece of gold, but at times we played with good structure and intent. So, we certainly don't want to throw points away like that.

“We would have liked to keep them scoreless… but the reality is we wanted to come here and win, and we are delighted we were able to do that today.”

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi added: “This was an important away win for us. In the last few years, we didn't start well away from home, so to get this win was special and we are really happy about earning the bonus point.

“We haven't done well in Australia especially, so we were very focused to turn that around, even though this ground is a fortress for them. We knew we couldn't win the Rugby Championship here, but we could lose it here.”

The loss brought an end to Australia's two-match win streak under Schmidt who said: “They won the physical battle today, their breakdown was really strong and they dominated possession and territory in that first half, which saps the strength.

“The team hung in, fought back, lost the second half 12-7; it would have been great to get a bit more out of the game, but we've got a benchmark.”