KOPPE GAAN ROL

SPRINGBOK coach Rassie Erasmus has warned his players that koppe gaan rol after putting in a disappointing performance in their 42-24 win against Italy at Loftus on Saturday.

Erasmus said he was left fuming after watching his Bok team’s 35-3 lead get cut to 35-24 as the Azzurri – missing a vrag of their first-choice players – came roaring back and outplayed his manne in an error-ridden second half.

The Bok boss said he had already picked his team for the second Test against the Azzurri this coming weekend in Gqeberha, but that he was going make some changes as some penciled-in starters disappointed him at the weekend.

One player who will most likely miss the game because of injury and not due to a bad performance, is centre Damian de Allende who Erasmus said pulled a hamstring in Saturday’s win. 

But of how other players’ heads are on the chopping block as they head to the Eastern Cape, Erasmus said: “Internally, we’ve announced that 13, 14 players who will definitely get a run next week, and that we’d build the bench or starting line-up around those guys.

“We won’t discard those guys, but some of them might move to the bench, some of the real standout players who played today might start again.

“The make-up of the team may change to handle the physicality that Italy threw at us... ”

And of how Erasmus could be making a klomp changes for the second Test, he added: “We have to pick nine guys to go with the others and we have to decide whether they start or come off the bench. De Allende has a bit of a hamstring, but luckily we don’t have any injuries, just a few bruised egos.”

Meanwhile, Erasmus was left frustrated after seeing his team not finish the job, when it looked like they had the Azzurri well and truly on the ropes.

He added: “You’d think a team that made 120 tackles in the first half would break in the second half… It was a very frustrating game.

“I don’t think we have too many excuses and it certainly makes the selection for this week certainly interesting.”