​PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Coach Rassie Erasmus believes the South African public would have understood his approach even if the Springboks had slipped to a loss against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Although they did not lose, the match was a tense affair, with South Africa finally pulling away in the 77th minute to secure a 42-28 win. The victory extended their winning streak to 10 tests and preserved their undefeated home record against Scotland.
Erasmus made 10 changes from the team that dismantled England 45-21 in the opening round of the Nations Championship. He acknowledged the decision carried risk but explained that his aim was to spread the workload, broaden players’ experience, and manage a lengthy injury list. The injury toll includes Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, RG Snyman, Lood de Jager, captain Siya Kolisi, Kwagga Smith, Deon Fourie, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Andre Esterhuizen.
In a reshuffle, Erasmus introduced a new front row, fresh halves, and a new back three. A late swap also occurred when World Cup winner Canan Moodie had to be replaced by eight-cap winger Ethan Hooker. Consequently, eight of the starting XV and 13 of the matchday squad had fewer than 10 caps apiece. “I don’t think the crowd was happy at the end, but I believe South Africa understands what we tried to do in this game,” Erasmus stated.
He added that, historically, a few changes might invite questions from fans, but the evolving relationship between the team and its supporters—shaped by media coverage—has fostered a sense of togetherness. “People know what we are trying to do. That’s something that’s changed over the years. It’s the crowd believing in the team and the team believing in South Africa, because those easy tries we gave away could have swung things against us.”
Erasmus acknowledged that if the team had lost, some critics would likely have intensified their scrutiny. Yet he insisted that the priority was learning about the players. “If we had lost this game, I think there would be some of the crowd who would understand what we tried to do, but fortunately we won,” he said. The emphasis for him remained on development rather than milestones.
“The lessons from this game outweighed any milestones,” he continued. “Sometimes we must set aside personal goals about how many games you’ve won in a row or about defending a championship, so you can truly see what certain players can do. If you don’t make those calls, you’d never know.” He added that such decisions are always tougher when facing teams of Scotland’s quality, calling them a great side and noting that you learn a lot from testing your limits against strong opponents.
He described the atmosphere as tense and pressurized, with a crowd that had paid for tickets to watch a match that featured a number of players outside their settled test iterations. “There’s a crowd that wants to see this game, and they don’t know every player as well as a seasoned Test match team,” he said.
Ultimately, South Africa topped the Southern Hemisphere conference on points difference ahead of New Zealand. Erasmus underscored the broader value of winning while learning, rather than losing and learning, concluding, “It’s much nicer when you win and you learn.” The Springboks now turn their attention to maintaining momentum and developing depth as they continue their campaign in the Nations Championship.