Latest Champions Cup logs after heavy SA defeats: Rugby news
12/17/2024 03:13 AM
It was a humbling Champions Cup outing for South Africa's contingent.
The Stormers and Sharks, who failed to score more than eighteen points against England’s Leicester and Harlequins, both conceded over fifty in what were games to forget for Mzansi's top-rated sides – John Plumtree's Springbok-laden side lost 56-17 to Handré Pollards Leicester Tigers while John Dobson's team suffered a 53-16 defeat to the Harlequins.
The Blue Bulls had a more respectable Champions Cup outing, falling short to Northampton 21-30.
So, what has this done to the logs?
Latest Champions Cup tables
Rassie talks Pieter-Steph du Toit
"I got it totally wrong with Pieter-Steph du Toit." Rassie Erasmus told SA Rugby Mag.
"I'd never worked with him or coached him before 2018, so all I had to rely on was my gut instinct when assessing his play. I thought he was physical in the Springboks' 25-24 defeat against the All Blacks at Newlands in 2017. But I also thought he was poor defensively, missed a lot of tackles and ran too upright as a ball-carrier. I watched that Test and at the time thought I wouldn't pick him to start for the Springboks.
"I had read that other coaches had raved about his strengths as a player and as an athlete. But that Test in Cape Town did nothing to change my mind of him as a player. He was big, physical and passionate, but I didn't for a moment think I was watching an exceptional rugby player.
"I didn't know Pieter-Steph as a person either, so at the start of the season, he certainly wasn't in my ideal starting XV. Nothing changed during the alignment camps I had with all the Super Rugby squads. I found him to be very chilled in those early theory sessions when it came to discussing the season, the expectations the coaches and management had and what we wanted to achieve as a squad.
"The Springboks had to win again and play with conviction to win back the respect of the rugby world. They had to produce performances to convince the South African public that there was a passion for the Bok jersey and meaning in representing all South Africans.
"It is a privilege to play for one's country and the coaching staff and management were clear in expressing this to the players in those early sessions. No one had a right to the jersey and the management were only going to invest in players who understood the privilege and were prepared to work for that privilege.
"My initial thoughts when meeting Pieter-Steph was that rugby was more a hobby than his passion or job. How wrong I was! He was chilled in those sessions and I wrongly took that as him not necessarily caring. I couldn't have been more off the mark when it came to reading a player and a situation.
"We picked him in the squad because he had done some good things in Super Rugby, but as a coaching staff we felt there were many things not right with his game. We wondered if the defensive issues were because of a lack of understanding or because of playing under several defensive coaches, who all had a different approach."
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