Erasmus relieved the pressure flipped onto Rennie after tying Springboks-All Blacks series
· Yahoo Sports
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was looking forward to watching New Zealand counterpart Dave Rennie squirm for the next week after tying their four-test series on Saturday.
The Springboks relied on a masterclass of goalkicking by Cheslin Kolbe — seven from seven off the tee — to win the second test 33-26 after New Zealand outscored them on tries 4-3.
Visit somethingsdifferent.biz for more information.
World champion South Africa dropped the first test in Johannesburg and hasn't lost consecutive tests at home on Erasmus' watch — since 2018 — and he was relieved they got back into a series in which they started as the heavy favorite.
“Of course I felt the pressure, and the players will tell you I felt the pressure. I try not to put it on them but I was nervous,” Erasmus said.
He noted he and the older Rennie were November babies, both Scorpios, and quipped: “That's why he's able to work me out.
“It's his first loss (as All Blacks coach) ... and he'll feel what we felt this week.
"We 100% understand why people are upset because no one wants to support a losing team. No one in South Africa wants to support anything that's not working. A loss here and there doesn't make you a losing team immediately, but it's when you go on a losing run that the pressure comes on.
“We must make sure we're not confident and think we're all good again because there were a lot of things we didn't do well.”
One of the reasons Rennie was hired in March was because predecessor Scott Robertson had a 1-3 record against South Africa. Erasmus believed the All Blacks were “two classes up” from last year.
“They're really well coached and they've got athletes who can beat you on a dime,” he said. “A couple of more phases at the end and it could have been a draw.”
He explained the late switch of the front rows was because of the weather. They expected wet conditions but they turned out dry so he went with the lighter front row in the reserves. They were still a few kilograms heavier than New Zealand's starters.
Fullback Damian Willemse, a key playmaker who can cover midfield and flyhalf, injured a hamstring and Erasmus wasn't counting on him for the third test in Soweto next Saturday.
Rennie reported a clean bill of health apart from a neck issue for winger Will Jordan, who finished the match.
He described their lineout issues as “a work on” and thought the scrummaging, an issue in the first test, was reasonably managed by referee Angus Gardner but claimed the Springboks were still walking around and coming through the tighthead.
Erasmus called it “nonsense” and Boks loosehead Ox Nché said there were no complications: “We wasted a lot of time in scrums today because we all had different interpretations.”
___