Erasmus has mixed views after nine-try Springboks beat Georgia
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said on Saturday that he had mixed feelings after a nine-try 55-10 victory over Georgia in a one-off Test in Mbombela.
"I saw some good things and some poor things, both in terms of the team and individuals," he told a press conference after the Springboks completed a four-match build-up before the Rugby Championship.
In earlier matches, South Africa beat the Barbarians 54-7 in a non-cap exhibition match and Italy 42-24 and 45-0 in a two-Test series.
The record four-time Rugby World Cup title-holders launch their southern hemisphere championship defence on August 16 against Australia in Johannesburg.
"A positive is that we have won all our games and scored around 50 points every time, while the defence has not been too bad, all while using 46 players.
"Tonight was a bit stop-start, but we have created enough depth for the next six Tests which will be tough," added Erasmus, referring to two matches each against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
When South Africa introduced their eight replacements -- all World Cup winners -- in the second half they produced some excellent rugby and added five tries to the four scored in the opening half.
Captain and flanker Siya Kolisi, making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a stiff neck and an Achilles tendon "niggle" echoed Erasmus when assessing the performance.
"We could have had a better start. Later, we started to get the intensity we wanted, started to put some things together.
"We had to really step it up in the second half after Georgia came at us in the first half and matched us physically most of the time.
"There was a lot of stop-start stuff, but hopefully we can fix that. The coach is building squad depth while we are winning."
Georgia coach and former England hooker Richard Cockerill said the match had been an excellent learning experience for the Lelos, who are ranked 11th in the world.
"I think we competed very well and the scoreline was slightly flattering for the Springboks. They are a very good side, but we took them on in the scrums, the lineouts and mauls.
"We knew once their bench came on and the game became unstructured that it would be difficult for us because they have amazing talent.
"But we have things to build on and we leave South Africa with some pride. We need to play this quality of opposition as often as possible.
"We will learn from this experience -- now we know what it feels like to play at that pace and intensity for 80 minutes.
"When we were good, we were matching them. We hit them back on the gainline lots of times. We need to get fitter and understand the game better and then we can do that again."
