Bloemfontein – South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said improving discipline would be a pivotal part of their Rugby Championship focus after a 64-21 triumph over Portugal in a one-off Test on Saturday.
The world champion Springboks played with 14 men from the third minute in Bloemfontein and twice had only 13 players on the pitch.
Andre Esterhuizen was given an early yellow card for head-on-head contact after a crunching tackle forced fellow centre Jose Lima to retire concussed.
The yellow card was later upgraded to a red by an off-field official.
South Africa also had wing Kurt-Lee Arendse yellow-carded in the 35th minute for a dangerous clear-out at a ruck.
With six minutes remaining, debutant replacement full-back Quan Horn was also sent to the sin bin after playing an opponent in the air.
“Discipline is something we will need to look at after getting a red card so early. We had nearly 20 minutes with 13 men and the rest with 14,” Erasmus told a press conference.
“Obviously, we won’t win World Cups like that. So that is something we will focus on. The incidents were all accidents – they were not things the players did on purpose.
‘Good thing’
“We had to adapt to having 14 or 13 men, so that was a good thing. You get to learn the character of players in matches like this.
“(Assistant coach) Jerry Flannery was planning how to defend without a blindside wing or a centre.
“On the field, the players can get rattled or stay calm, so there were big learnings from that tonight,” Erasmus said.
Conceding 10 tries but scoring three was no disgrace for Portugal in their first meeting with South Africa, and coach Simon Mannix said he could not have been prouder of his team.
“The lessons were enormous tonight and we were monstered in a lot of areas,” said the New Zealand-born coach.
“The physicality of the Springboks was something else and the players felt it was two or three levels higher than what they experienced in the 2023 World Cup.
He added: “There is a huge gulf between being ranked first and 15th in the world. One of my players is in the French fifth division and tonight he started against the Springboks.”
South Africa begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Australia in Brisbane on August 10.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Facebook/Cameron McKenzie
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