{"id":257668,"date":"2025-11-02T13:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T13:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/257668\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T13:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T13:48:09","slug":"what-rassie-erasmus-admits-he-didnt-expect-in-win-over-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/257668\/","title":{"rendered":"What Rassie Erasmus admits he didn’t expect in win over Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Head coach Rassie Erasmus<\/a> lauded his team\u2019s physicality, intensity and respect for the opposition after South Africa<\/a> opened their end-of-year tour with a 61-7 win over Japan<\/a> at Wembley Stadium \u2014 but admitted the scoreline was not something he saw coming.<\/p>\n

The Springboks ran in eight tries and were awarded a penalty try, while restricting Eddie Jones\u2019 Brave Blossoms to a single converted score. It was a statement start to their northern tour, yet Erasmus was quick to temper expectations ahead of next weekend\u2019s clash with France<\/a> in Paris.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to give credit to the whole team,\u201d said Erasmus. \u201cSome of the players have not played for us in a while, such as Gerhard [Steenekamp], Franco [Mostert], Johan [Grobbelaar], Andre [Esterhuizen] at No 7, and Zachary [Porthen] made his debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then if one looks at a player like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] \u2013 who scored two tries in the match \u2013 he played for us for the SA \u2018A\u2019 team [three years ago], and he worked with the coaches on that tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight was a wet game against a Japanese team that we\u2019ve struggled to put away before, and he was physical for a No.10. He kicked well, tackled well, and he\u2019s got the magic feel for the game. So, with him, Manie [Libbok] and Handre [Pollard], we are in a good position with flyhalves.\u201d<\/p>\n

While pleased with the performance, Erasmus said the nature of the result surprised him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll never forget Brighton, and we\u2019ve only beaten them three times,\u201d he said. \u201cWe struggled to put them away in the last two games, even in the [2019] RWC quarter-final, and we know what a good coach Eddie [Jones] is, so I didn\u2019t expect this score.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, it was more about how the players entered the match with the respect and physicality they showed up with. Everything was not perfect, but I\u2019m pleased with the intensity the players showed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erasmus was already looking ahead to a far sterner examination at the Stade de France next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what it\u2019s like to play France away from home. The passion, intensity and atmosphere in which you play there is very different,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we have sufficient depth, experience and youth in the team, but it\u2019s a totally different ball game going there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pressure cooker, and it gets to you. We beat them in the [2023] World Cup quarter-final, but we know how close that match was, so it\u2019s a massive game, and then there\u2019s Ireland<\/a> ahead as well as Italy<\/a> and Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, although we are building, we need to keep reminding one another about that. We knew what was coming at Eden Park [against New Zealand], and we couldn\u2019t pull it through, so we have to do some intelligent and physical stuff to pull it through next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captain Siya Kolisi<\/a>, who opened the scoring with his 14th Test try, said the team\u2019s adaptability and depth were key factors in such a strong performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to have versatile players, so the coaches can pick who they want on the day, and that helps a lot if there is an injury in the game,\u201d Kolisi said. \u201cIt enables us to adjust and not panic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolisi also praised the travelling support who turned out in wet conditions at Wembley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was special to see the people come out in numbers and enjoy the match and even wait around at the end in the rain,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have four more matches on tour, and we need them, so we encourage them to come to the games, and we\u2019d like to thank them for their support tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Head coach Rassie Erasmus lauded his team\u2019s physicality, intensity and respect for the opposition after South Africa opened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-257668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}