Springboks: Rassie Erasmus careful to avoid 'arrogant' tag after ...

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus was “content” despite not being happy with his team’s showing in their Autumn Nations Series victory over England on Saturday.

The 29-20 result at Twickenham saw South Africa back up last week’s win over Scotland and retain their spot as the number one side in the World Rugby rankings.

Scores from Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe (2) were added to by points off the tee from fly-half duo Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard.

Speaking after the triumph at Allianz Stadium, Erasmus admitted it was not a perfect showing from the Boks but he was careful not to come across as “arrogant”.

“It was tough,” he said.

“We also had to work hard last week for the victory (against Scotland). We missed a kick here and there and both teams were disallowed tries in the second half, while the injury to Ox (Nche) disrupted the way we planned to do things.

“We were certainly not happy with the performance, but if you beat England by nine points, it could come across as arrogant to say that. So, we are content with the result.”

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Captain Siya Kolisi was of a similar view to Erasmus on how the Test played out but praised his team for digging in and getting the job done, as is their wont.

“We are a team that believe in fighting until the end and chasing lost causes, and that’s pulled us together as a group,” said the flanker.

“We had to dig deep, but the players never gave up and kept on believing and that’s special about this group, and it allowed us to go all the way.”

Next up for South Africa is a trip to Cardiff to tackle Wales as they look to wrap up an end-of-year clean sweep on their tour, something they haven’t done since 2013.

“Next week will be our last match and then we’ll see each other in June or July next year again, so we certainly want to end the tour on a high note,” added Erasmus.

“As coaches we first need to select the team and work really hard to analyse Wales properly and put our structures in place for the game, so that will be our focus next week.”

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