They have had to battle for wins and have lost some heartbreakers too.
Three of their losses have been by two points or less‚ and three of their wins have been by three points or less.
“Last week (against England) we took it through 15 phases to get a penalty to win the game (and it didn’t happen) and this week we had to score a try to win the match‚” Erasmus said after the win against France.
“It was definitely not the most clinical performance but the team was gusty enough and it feels much better.”
France led 23-9 early in the second half but the Boks rallied well to comeback just as they had done against England in June in the first two Tests and against the All Blacks in Wellington.
France scored two tries in a four-minute period either side of halftime to stretch the lead‚ unlike in previous matches when the Boks fell behind in the opening quarter of matches.
“We’ve done it a few times this year where we were behind quite early in the match‚ but this time it happened just before and after halftime and that made it tough‚” Erasmus said.
“There were a few big moments (for us) and I thought our guys handled those and the pressure very well.”
The Boks moved to Edinburgh to prepare to face Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend.
The lineout was one big area of improvement after it fell apart against England with the Boks winning all 13 of their own throws against France. It’s a much better foundation for the Boks to build on against Scotland.