South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus and first-time captain André Esterhuizen refused to blame the 13 changes to the starting XV for the 42-38 loss to Australia in a wacky rugby match on Sunday.
asserted
Erasmus → refuse → Sunday
The world champion Springboks trailed 24-17 at halftime, unloaded the Bomb Squad all at once, and fell further behind at 42-17 with 10 minutes left.
asserted
Springboks → trail → minutes
But four yellow cards against Australia opened a route back and South Africa scored three converted tries but ran out of time.
asserted
Africa → open → time
Erasmus chose a new-look team two weeks after winning the brutal four-test series against New Zealand but packed the bench with front-liners Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché, Wilco Louw, Jasper Wiese, Lood de Jager and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
asserted
Erasmus → choose → Marx
“We rolled the dice a bit, and some guys haven’t played a lot together in a long time but it’s not an excuse,” Erasmus said.
asserted
Erasmus → roll → time
“We picked the team and we had a game plan, and I thought we had a chance at the end but the better team won on the night.
asserted
team → pick → night
It’s sad to lose but it’s not because we’ve been together too long.
asserted
we → ’ → ?
It’s because we didn’t play well enough.”
asserted
we → ’ → ?
Esterhuizen also didn’t believe any lack of cohesion undermined their performance.
asserted
lack → believe → performance
“I don’t think it was too disjointed, I think the discipline was the key factor that let us down,” he said.
asserted
he → think → us
“All of us trained together for the last 18, 19 weeks so we know the plan well, but it was just about executing.”
asserted
it → train → plan
Despite everything, including disruptions with the match officials’ communications and the match clock, the Springboks could have won in the end as the yellow cards depleted the Wallabies and opened the field.
uncertain
cards → include → field
“I was very proud of the fight the boys showed at the end, but we definitely need to be better than that,” Esterhuizen said.
asserted
Esterhuizen → show → that
“At that stage, we were concentrating on getting one try, getting another try, taking it step by step.
asserted
we → concentrate → step
But we never should’ve put ourselves in that position.”
asserted
we → put → position
Erasmus said: “We lost in a Springboks jersey against Australia and I think with all the disruptions and things that there were we’ve got nobody else to blame but ourselves.
asserted
we → say → ourselves
We didn’t play well enough tonight to beat a stronger team.”
asserted
We → play → team
Their second loss in three tests to Australia was a valuable experience, Erasmus said, with their defense of the Rugby World Cup in Australia only a year away.
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Erasmus → say → Australia
“Australia are a good team and they’ve definitely improved a lot.
asserted
they → improve → ?
They played at home and they’re the World Cup hosts next year,” he said.
asserted
he → play → home
“We might meet them in a vital playoff game, and it was nice to get a taste of them tonight.
uncertain
it → meet → them
When we play them next year we’ll know a little bit more about each other.
asserted
we → play → other
I’m not going to say it was a case of lessons learned but I think it was a valuable experience.”
asserted
it → go → lessons
‘Got to hold your nerve’
Meanwhile, new Wallabies coach Les Kiss said the crazy finish shouldn’t detract from how well they overcame South Africa for more than an hour.
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they → get → hour
“Yeah, a bizarre finish, but I don’t want us to forget about the first 60
asserted
us → want → 60
,” Kiss said.
asserted
Kiss → say → ?
“I think it was a really important step up for us to take that game forward, control the game and really be brave and attack the game.”
asserted
us → think → game
Australia’s 25-point lead was whittled down to four at the end and Kiss admitted the heart rate was up but it was important to give the appearance of calm in the coaching box.
asserted
it → whittle → box
“Credit to my coaching team, they were just trying to get the right message (to the team) in the right way,” Kiss said.
asserted
Kiss → try → way
In those moments, you’ve just got to hold your nerve and stay clear about what you want to do and I think they did that.”
asserted
they → get → that
Captain Harry Wilson contributed to the late mayhem with a yellow card and was particularly pleased with the effort of the backs in the first hour.
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Wilson → contribute → hour
Hunter Paisami was brought into midfield and Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i moved to the wing.
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Sua’ali’i → bring → wing
“I just loved the way they backed themselves,” Wilson said.
asserted
Wilson → love → themselves
”It wasn’t pretty early on, a few errors, but we said we’d keep going and keep backing ourselves and we’ve got some special players in that backline.
asserted
we → say → backline
“Give them some ball in space and they can do some special things.”
___
asserted
they → give → things
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