English Woman's Journal - Springboks back in contention after win - Erasmus

But he admitted they faced a huge challenge in their next two matches, against New Zealand away in Auckland on September 6 and Wellington a week later.

"We have to go to New Zealand and beat them twice – but we’re back in it,” said Erasmus.

He said he would name a squad of 36 for the New Zealand tour after assessing injuries.

"Going to New Zealand is pressure – but it's good pressure," he said.

The Springbok coach said Saturday’s result was crucial after the Wallabies gained a shock 38-22 win in Johannesburg the previous week.

"After a loss you lose a bit of belief so the big thing today was to win and deny them a bonus point.”

But he admitted his team only just managed to achieve that objective, with Wallaby flyhalf James O’Connor missing two penalty attempts in the dying minutes which would have given the visitors a losing bonus point.

The Wallabies will return to Australia with five points – one more than the Springboks – after a bonus point win in Johannesburg.

"They're ahead of us on log points but we’re happy with the win,” said Erasmus.

Asked to rate the performance out of 10, Erasmus said the second half in Johannesburg was only "two or three" but felt that the effort in Cape Town was worth seven.

"We played a more balanced game today," he said.

Erasmus gave credit to the Wallabies and said the matches between New Zealand and Australia later in the competition could have a big influence on the title.

Wallaby coach Joe Schmidt said he was "massively proud" of the way his players stayed in the game despite losing three key players to injury.

Fullback Tom Wright and scrumhalf Nic White were injured in the first 11 minutes and centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii did not come out for the second half.

He said the loss of White, who failed a head injury assessment, was crucial.

"He reads the game so well. Losing both him and Tom, Wright, who was outstanding last week, caused a bit of a reshuffle," said Schmidt.

"Coming that early in the game does destabilise you a bit and the Springboks got away to a good lead in that first half.

"But I thought we were really competitive. I thought we won the second half, not quite enough, but at 23-22 with a conversion to come I really felt the players had done a fantastic job."

But O’Connor failed to convert Brandon Paenga-Amosa’s 69th minute try and the Springboks clinched the match with a late try by replacement lock Eben Etzebeth.

Schmidt said the Wallabies had improved markedly since last year "when the Springboks got two bonus points at a canter against us".

But he said the attritional nature of the trip to South Africa made their upcoming home fixtures against Argentina in Townsville and Sydney more challenging.

"Our strength in depth is going to be crucial," said Schmidt.

R.Mcintosh--EWJ