Springbok rugby coach Rudolf Straeuli heaped praise on his young squad and said that the 34-19 win over Wales on Saturday signalled a positive start to his stewardship of the national team.
Seven players made their Test debuts as South Africa overcame a disjointed opening half-hour to score five tries and avert what would have been a shocking and disastrous loss.
Straeuli though would not be drawn on whether he would stick with the same combination for the second Test in Cape Town next Saturday.
”We are picking the side week by week and the best XV will be selected,” said Straeuli. ”But the youngsters had very good games and that will obviously count in their favour when the side is selected next week.”
Straeuli added that the introduction of the Pumas’ Brent Russell early in the second half served as a double ”swap” as Andre Pretorius moved to fullback to cover for the injured Ricardo Loubscher while Russell slotted in at flyhalf.
”He handled it very well and he’ll get more opportunities. We have a lot of flair in our backline.”
His captain Bob Skinstad was more lavish in his praise of Bolla Conradie — a strong contender for man of the match who also set up the two opening tries when South Africa was on the backfoot.
”Bolla is a great communicator and a very good link man,” said Skinstad who scored the second try in the right hand corner.
”He takes a lot of pressure on himself which eases the pressure on others. He had a terrific game today and he just gets better and better every time he plays.”
After the disappointing run under his predecessor Harry Viljoen, Straeuli knew how much public expectation there was and what a difficult task he has in rebuilding the Springbok side.
”It was the right start to make,” said Straeuli. ”It wasn’t too exciting but we achieved our first goal and that was to win. It’s been a good week. You have to learn how to crawl before you can walk, before you can run.”
Considering the exceptionally poor start the Springboks suffered, that win was in some doubt during the first 35 minutes. In that period, the Boks barely entered Welsh territory.
”We didn’t have enough possession and when we did have it we couldn’t hold onto the ball long enough. We kept on turning it over,” explained Straeuli.
”In the second half though we kept possession and the forwards got into the game.” The only injury scare is that to fullback Ricardo Loubscher. The debutant took a knock in the ribs but his condition will only be known Sunday.
Welsh coach Steve Hansen said the performance proved that they were improving. ”It was a good performance and we are definitely making progress,” said Hansen. ”It was better than the last performance but it’s not good enough yet to get the results on the scoreboard. As I’ve said it’s going to be a long journey.” – Sapa