Rassie Erasmus Warns Springboks Must Improve Despite 66-7 Demolition Of Italy

Rassie Erasmus may have walked away pleased with the Springboks' emphatic victory over Italy, but the national coach is already looking ahead to tougher challenges.

South Africa delivered a commanding performance in Turin on Saturday, scoring six first-half tries to establish a massive 45-0 lead at the break.

The world champions continued adding to their tally in the second half, eventually sealing a 66-7 win in their opening Nations Championship clash of the European tour.

However, the second half was not quite as dominant as the first, with Italy managing to get on the scoreboard while the Springboks appeared to lose some of their early rhythm.

Erasmus acknowledged the drop in intensity but was not about to turn a convincing victory into a list of complaints.

Rassie Erasmus Reacts to Springboks' 66-7 Win Over Italy

Speaking after the match, Erasmus admitted that the Springboks were not entirely satisfied with their second-half performance.

“It's almost impossible to put 80 minutes together at 100 per cent,” he said.

“Obviously, we're not happy with the second half. We scored 45 points in the first half, and the final score was 66, so we got another 21 points in the second half.”

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The coach also gave Italy credit for refusing to surrender, despite being 45 points behind at half-time.

“Italy are a proud team, and despite being 45 points down, they started running the ball from everywhere, while we also made some changes that we wanted to see, and with that one loses a bit of rhythm.”

Nevertheless, Erasmus felt the result deserved recognition rather than excessive criticism.

“But when you win 66-7, I don't think you can start nitpicking problems in the second half. It wasn't perfect, but it was proper,” he added.

The victory was particularly encouraging because the squad had spent a month apart before coming together for the European tour.

Erasmus was pleased to see the players reconnect and deliver such a strong opening performance, although he knows the next assignments will demand considerably more.

Springboks Turn Attention to France and Ireland

Despite the impressive scoreline, Erasmus was quick to warn that the Springboks cannot afford to approach their upcoming fixtures with the same performance and expect similar results.

“That said, we have to play much better than this if we want to be competitive against France and Ireland,” he said.

The Springboks are now preparing to travel to Paris, where they will face France at the Stade de France on Friday.

The upcoming encounter represents a significant step up in difficulty, with the French side expected to provide a much sterner test than Italy.

Meanwhile, Erasmus also addressed a late change to his match-day squad after lock Salmaan Moerat withdrew shortly before kick-off.

Moerat had experienced back spasms earlier in the week, and although he appeared to have recovered, the problem returned during the warm-up.

Lood de Jager consequently moved into the starting line-up, while Franco Mostert took a place on the bench.

“Salmaan had a little bit of a back spasm on Thursday, but we thought it would clear up,” Erasmus explained.

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“He looked good at the captain's practice, but unfortunately in the warm-up he got more back spasms, so hopefully it's not too serious. He's the only casualty we have from the game. I don't think there are any other serious injuries.”

For now, the Springboks can enjoy an impressive start to their European campaign. But with France and Ireland waiting, Erasmus knows that the real examination of his team's form is still to come.