Erasmus disappointed with underwhelming performance

THERE was no two ways about it, Rassie Erasmus was a disappointed Springbok coach after his team spluttered to a 42-24 defeat of an under-strength Italy team at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

Erasmus, to his credit, did not sugarcoat his dissatisfaction with the performance.

“It was a very frustrating game,” he said. “They left some big names at home. They had youngsters who had nothing to lose, and they imposed themselves on us.

“They manned up in the scrums, the mauling, defence, and attack. It was a proper Test match and we were exposed in several areas.”

Erasmus had picked 13 players from the warm-up match against the Barbarians to give the team continuity, but they did not kick on from Cape Town.

“There were few new guys in this side, so there are no excuses,” the coach said.