Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has given a blunt assessment of his side in their 38-22 loss to the Wallabies, saying the South African side “were just really dogs*** on the day.”

The Springboks shot out to a 22-0 lead in their Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park in Johannesburg this morning, before the Wallabies launched a shock comeback.

It was the Australian side’s first win over the Springboks in South Africa since 2011, and their first at Ellis Park since 1963.

The Springboks did not score a point after the 20th minute of the contest, with the Wallabies running in six straight tries.

“I must be honest, this is probably one of the most embarrassing press conferences I’ve done in a while,” Erasmus said after the match.

“The saddest thing is [it’s] five points for them. We didn’t even fight back to take the bonus point away.”

“We were just really dogs*** on the day.”

South Africa led 22-0 before losing to the Wallabies at Ellis Park. Photo / Photosport

The loss will force a rethink for the South African side, after Erasmus said he had already let his players know who would be in the team for next weekend’s Rugby Championship rematch against the Australians in Cape Town.

He said the side spoke in the changing room after the test, with the team informed that next week’s selections might change a bit now after the 16-point loss.

While he was blunt in his assessment of his own team’s performance, he credited the Wallabies and what they were building under the watchful eye of Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt.

“I don’t think they tactically just outsmarted us. I also think they physically dominated us. Not the worrying thing, but interesting thing was the fact that the longer the game went on, they’re supposed to struggle at altitude.

“It just shows what Joe is building there. We were always nervous about that; he’s getting a bunch of guys to really believe in each other, they got stronger as the game went on and we made a few errors, so next week’s team internally was announced but we’ll review tonight.”

The loss saw the Springboks relinquish their spot as the top-ranked side in the world, with the All Blacks set to take that mantle when the rankings are updated early in the week.

“We as coaches got it terribly wrong and we have to look first at ourselves before we point fingers at the players. We know from now until next Saturday we’re going to take a lot of flak but when we take the credit when we’re doing well we must take the flak when we’re doing badly.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.