Captain André Esterhuizen admits that poor discipline and costly errors left the Springboks with too much to do in their dramatic 42-38 defeat to the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.
Australia appeared to have the Test under control when they moved 42-17 ahead after 63 minutes, but four yellow cards in the closing stages opened the door for a remarkable Springbok comeback.
The Boks scored three late tries to close the gap to four points, but ultimately ran out of time as Australia held on for a famous victory.
REPORT: Wallabies survive late Bok surge
“We always knew it was going to be a tough battle coming down here. Australia’s always a hard team to beat and such a good game to play,” Esterhuizen said in his post-match TV interview.
“It was quite an intense game, quite quick for a Test match, but they capitalised on all our errors and discipline let us down, especially in that first half. We let them in too many times and that really hurt us.”
Esterhuizen rejected the suggestion that the Boks struggled because of a lack of cohesion after Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes to the starting XV that beat the All Blacks in Baltimore.
“I don’t think it was too disjointed, I think the discipline was the key factor that let us down,” he said.
“All of us trained together for the last 18, 19 weeks so we know the plan well, but it was just about executing.”
FIRST TAKE: Kiss of death as Wallabies tear up Bok blueprint
The Boks found themselves chasing the game for much of the second half before Australia’s indiscipline handed them an unlikely route back into the contest.
“I was very proud of the fight the boys showed at the end, but we definitely need to be better than that,” said Esterhuizen.
“At that stage, we were concentrating on getting one try, getting another try, taking it step by step. But we never should’ve put ourselves in that position.”
ALSO: Boks’ ranking lead reduced
Photo: Antony Dickson/Gallo Images
The post André the Giant: Lack of discipline cost us appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Captain André Esterhuizen admits that poor discipline and costly errors left the Springboks with too much to do in their dramatic 42-38 defeat to the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.
The post André the Giant: Lack of discipline cost us appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
