Rassie Erasmus & Pieter-Steph du Toit | Springbok Post-Match Press Conference | 22 August 2026

New Zealand were sitting there and thought that the match was almost lost at this point.Did you know that it might have been a turning point in the series?Yes.The All Blacks won a crucial draw.How much of the second half was crucial?

And did it continue until the end of the match?

No, I listened to a lot of your podcasts.You are very interesting.First, to be honest with you, I think you are absolutely right.And I think it was the right decision.I think he made the right decision.Maybe the instruction at the top or the subject.

Without a doubt, they did the draw very well.And from there, the dynamic has changed, without any doubt.So, yes, I agree with you.

What do you attribute the manipulation errors to today?

It was unusually low -key, Andy.Maybe you can tell us, from your experience on the field and the race.

Yes, I think we made a few mistakes.We made a lot of mistakes, especially in the 22.And as you said, some of them were manipulation errors.And yes, it's just something we have to correct for next weekend as well.

Yes, well, although they had a very smart tactic, once again 100 % legal, they made deviated tacking.They didn't do any cross like we did.And we thought they would.They usually did cross from lower to higher.And in this match, they did a lot of cross from the side.Even the non -try attempt, for which we will remove the ball, where Yasuke Jasper was pushed to the ground when the ball was hit.

So, many of them are due to the good work of New Zealand, the ball was not slippery.We can't use that as an excuse.We know that the team that played was inexperienced.It's probably the pressure they put on us on these different phases of the game, etc.So, yes, we didn't play well there.They did a good job, disappointing, and that's probably what New Zealand knows how to do best, they really know how to...

you when they are in the 22 meters, in different ways, by pulling the ball away, by disputing the ball on the ground, by harassing the 9 players in the limits of the field.I'm not saying they do it out of the law and that we couldn't handle it.I don't want to be quoted wrongly, but I thought that until the 50th minute, we really dominated the territory, the possession, and we felt like we were really in the game.But the class teams, like New Zealand, if you don't convert, they give you a good correction.First of all, we wanted to make a statement during the first stage.Everyone made statements.

Do you know what we considered a disaster?

Everyone said it was a disaster.We lost the first pool match against New Zealand in the World Cup.Everyone said it was a disaster.We have therefore experienced many catastrophic situations in our lives.Obviously, we are now in a position to win three games in a row if we want to win the series, if we want to win the league.So, without a doubt, it puts them in a very good position, which they deserve.

And now we have to go to the Caps and try to win there, it will be equal, but we still have to win.Three games in a row, so I wouldn't say it's a disaster.

Rostier, Melee and taking into account the way New Zealand defended, were you wrong here?

No, there's no doubt.I mean, we were on the line and they took the ball.The third Melee at the 50th minute, as the referee said, three points and being equal.So obviously, when you look back, you say to yourself, yeah, there are a lot of things that we haven't converted.But I think there are two or three important moments where we let the game go.not because we wanted to, not because we wanted to make these mistakes, but because New Zealand forced us to make these mistakes, by being really, really intense and decisive.

And then of course we lost Jordi and Andris had to leave.I don't want to give you any excuses.New Zealand really did a good job of keeping us on the field.

Coach, I think you just addressed my question.Just a point on the injuries of some of the players that we saw leave the field.In addition, just a decision.

Well, that's what he says.Yes, so he said that at this point he was our best shooter and that he didn't miss a shot.So that's the reason.He's the only injured player.But we were already at that point, I feel almost depressed when we had the two yellow cards.It just aggravated the fact that we couldn't start back when we had the two yellow cards.

So yeah, Cheslin shot because he's at this point our best shooter.And then in terms of injuries, it's...Oh, I'm Kutuano.I'm Kutuano, sorry.I'm Kutuano.Kutuano, his mouth was stuck and the match doctor didn't help him.

I don't think I'm in a situation where I could say something bad about the All Blacks, because if you get your ass kicked like that, you will finally be beaten by a team that is probably...And that's why we probably opted for the third melee under the poles.And then the technical error of Garratt, who just passed by, and the referee whistled it correctly.Yeah, I think we were dominant over there, but that doesn't mean you're only in one part of the game, or in some parts of the game, to dominate.LB was probably dominant in most sections of the game.

to re -align what needs to be done for the rest of the series or the tournament.What is the importance of these classes of morphs to re -align things for the rest of the series or the tournament?

I know I'm not going to bother and say that we're going to learn from this, etc. I mean that this cliché of the genre, we learn from this and we will improve.We didn't have to learn from this.We knew what we had to do that day and we didn't do it.So I'm going to say that we learn from this class of morphs that we had.Even if we had won, even if we had this penalty of melee that we pointed out earlier, there are so many things that we did wrong and that New Zealand did well.So no, I'm not going to say that we learned a lot from this match.

There are a lot of things that we had to correct, even if we managed to finish this match with a 1 -1 -1.We didn't play well today.

Hi, Rassi Rasmus.Rassi, you told us that you put pressure on the All Blacks.It seems that a lot of these players put pressure on you.No, no, of course it's a huge match, it's the first match of the series and unfortunately we made a lot of mistakes.And as Rassi said, the All Blacks were simply better than us.They had key moments, they were simply better.

They took the ball away from us, they made us make manipulation errors.But yes, they played a little differently from what we thought they were going to play.And I think that's how it is with us, that's why they were better than us.

Cox played 8 minutes in the last 6 weeks.So we always thought Cox would probably last only 30 or 40 minutes.I don't think Cox is the reason for our defeat, but it is obvious that you were tired.And then we made Gerrard come in.And then Malcolm played pretty well.We thought we had to leave Jan Hendrik the last 15 -20 minutes, but I had the feeling that the match was already lost minutes.

It's hard to bring them back with only 13 players on the board.As for the substitutes, Kerwin got injured, so we couldn't use Andr as an attacker.We wanted to use him as an attacker in this match.Then André had to go to the center, and obviously Jesse had to play out of his position, then on the wing.And then Cheslin got injured later, and then Kobus had to go on the 9, because we had 3 backs on the bench.So Kobus had to go on the 9, and Grant had to go on the wing.

And then to get money on the field, because we made a team as a flanker most of the time.And then of course, when we were only 13 men, we made some money.And then the way we planned to play the match, And it's not the fault of anyone, except for Paul.I thought Paul had probably played very well.So I think the match was completely lost.It's impossible to attack without a 9 and without a flanker.

So it was lost in advance, I thought, at this stage, when we were so far away.And then the game started.In terms of territory, and I can do the statistics, if you like the dominant 2nd set, tell me that you put the cry, or that life...

After the first luck you can have in the last year of the game, or for a long time, I don't understand.

I'm unhappy.I'm the first.

I think on the other side of the performance theory.It's a ball claim.The coaches, what is the movement to support him?

I think that with the former beginner, and I think he has physique, and he wanted to defend you at the beginning.

In total, you look good to be alone, and for those people who speak to you at the back, from the back line, And that's what's going to happen, it's the hotel.I think the man is a bad kid.