Rassie: We were down and out before the yellow card incidents

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says the double yellow card setback his team received late in the game had little bearing on the outcome of the contest at Ellis Park.

The Springboks produced one of their worst performances in recent memory on route to a humiliating 33-16 defeat against their arch-rivals New Zealand. Statistically, it was the Boks’ heaviest loss under Erasmus and the team’s biggest loss since going down 38-3 to Ireland in 2017.

What makes it worse is the fact the South Africans had ample opportunity to take the game away from the All Blacks, but were erratic and wasteful when scoring chances were on offer.

The Springboks had 11 entries into the 22, but averaged a mere 0.9 points scored per entry. New Zealand, by contrast, enjoyed just nine entries into the 22 and averaged 3.6 points per entry.

Additionally, the Kiwis conceded 14 penalties and were forced to make 122 tackles. The Springboks on the other hand lost 22 turnovers at the breakdown and had a low tackle completion rate of 77%.

That, coupled with the Springboks inability to capitalise on their scrum dominance set-up by the front row, laid the foundation for disaster. And Erasmus admitted as much, prematurely shutting down any talk of the yellow cards costing his team the game.

For context, Marco van Staden was controversially sent off moments after referee Mathew Carley ruled in favour of All Blacks captain Ardie Savea, who was under TMO review for a shoulder-to-head hit on Jasper Wiese. With the crowd expecting the officials to penalise Savea, he instead looked at and subsequently carded Van Staden for a dangerous clear-out moments after the initial incident.

When asked if that moment was crucial in deciding the outcome, Erasmus opined that his charges were already beaten by that stage.

“We’re were down and out when we got the two yellow cards,” Erasmus said bluntly. “It just confounded that we couldn’t launch any comeback when we got the yellow cards.”

ALL BLACKS BOSS PRAISES REFEREE FOR BOLD CALL

All Blacks Dave Rennie in turn praised the officials for their boldness in what he believes was the right ball.

“Technically it’s the right call,” Rennie stated. “You’ll see the footage that when Ardie hits him [Wiese], his head comes forward. And so that means the first impact’s on the body then the head will come forward.”

“If the head goes back, first impact is straight on the head. So it’s a really good refereeing and good to see at this level.”