Springboks “not the finished product”, but Rassie is happy with progress

Whatever happens in the Springboks’ final Test of the year, Rassie Erasmus will – at worst – finish his first year in charge having won 50% of his matches at the helm, after his charges held on for a second consecutive win on the road on Saturday night.

South Africa overcame a spirited performance from Scotland at Murrayfield to run off 26-20 winners, adding to their close victory over France in Paris the previous weekend.

This was the men in green and gold’s seventh win in 13 matches since Erasmus took over coaching duties from Allister Coetzee at the beginning of the year.

Rassie Erasmus hails Springboks progress

While the return may not be overly impressive, the former Free State flanker believes the Springboks are making some progress.

“The current world rankings doesn’t indicate how tough it is to come and play here and we could have lost the game in the dying minutes,” he said on Saturday.

“We’re definitely not the finished product yet, but we are slowly growing into a better team.”

After falling in the dying moments against New Zealand at Loftus and to England at Twickenham, the Springboks held their nerve in similar situations in the two Tests that followed, something that will have pleased Erasmus,

“We’re learning how to close out games, and that’s why we won this game because Scotland were as good as us on the day,” he said.

“The maturity of this team is starting to show because we are now winning games from tight situations. We scored three points when Willie le Roux was off the field with a yellow card, and they didn’t score.”

“We did well at the breakdown, especially our work at the defensive breakdown where we won managed to win vital turnovers at important times.”

The Springboks’ next assignment on tour sees them travel to Cardiff for a clash with Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

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