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Discipline worries Boks coach Erasmus after red card and three yellow cards

Wingers Manuel Cardoso Pinto (L) of Portugal and Kurt-Lee Arendse of South Africa come face to face in Bloemfontein. (Phill Magakoe)

Wingers Manuel Cardoso Pinto (L) of Portugal and Kurt-Lee Arendse of South Africa come face to face in Bloemfontein. (Phill Magakoe)

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said improving discipline would be a key part of their focus for the Rugby Championship, following their 64-21 win over Portugal in a one-off Test match on Saturday.

The world champion Springboks played with 14 men from the third minute in Bloemfontein and twice had only 13 players on the field.

Andre Esterhuizen was shown an early yellow card for head-on contact after a hard tackle caused his teammate Jose Lima to retire with a concussion.

The yellow card was later changed to a red card by an off-field official.

South Africa also received a yellow card in the 35th minute for winger Kurt-Lee Arendse for a dangerous foul at a ruck.

With six minutes left, debuting reserve back Quan Horn was also sent to the penalty box after hitting an opponent in the air.

“Discipline is something we have to look at after getting a red card so early. We had almost 20 minutes with 13 men and the rest with 14,” Erasmus told a press conference.

“It’s clear that we’re not going to win World Cups that way. So that’s what we’re going to focus on. The incidents were all accidents — they weren’t things the players did on purpose.

– ‘Good thing’ –

“We had to adapt to 14 or 13 men, so that was a good thing. You learn the character of players in games like this.

“(Assistant coach) Jerry Flannery figured out how to defend without blind wingers or midfielders.

“On the pitch, players can get irritated quickly, but they can also stay calm. We learned a lot from that tonight,” said Erasmus.

The fact that Portugal conceded ten times and scored three did not disgrace their first encounter with South Africa, with coach Simon Mannix saying he could not have been prouder of his team.

“We learned a huge amount tonight and we were monsters in many ways,” said the New Zealand-born coach.

“The physical strength of the Springboks was unique and the players felt it was two or three levels above what they experienced at the 2023 World Cup.

He added: “There is a big difference between number one and number 15 in the world rankings. One of my players is in the French fifth division and tonight he started against the Springboks.”

South Africa open their Rugby Championship campaign on August 10 against Australia in Brisbane.

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