The Springboks have four more matches to get their house in order before the World Cup, according to head coach Jacques Nienaber, after the defeat to New Zealand answered some questions that they had.
South Africa fell to a 35-20 loss on Saturday after a disappointing start to the Test in Auckland saw them trail the All Blacks 20-3 at halftime, with the Boks’ poor defence and inability to deal with the home side’s varied kicking game their biggest downfall.
And after a brilliant performance against the Wallabies in the first Rugby Championship Test in Pretoria last week that ticked quite a few boxes, this display also showed some frailties in the Springbok arsenal that needs some sharpening before they can go and defend their title at the showpiece in France from September.
“We got some good answers, from both games,” Nienaber said in his post-match press conference after the defeat at the Mount Smart Stadium.
“Defensively we were not good, and in that first five minutes, we missed about six or seven tackles, and we struggled to handle their high kicks – those are normally two of our stronger points. We need to improve that.
“I wouldn’t say it was the poorest start for us, it has happened before.
“Last year at Ellis Park (against the All Blacks), we also had a start like this where we made errors and did not use our chances.
“If you take that we were over the tryline with Cheslin (Kolbe’s almost) try and there was a knock-on (in the grounding)… Eben (Etzebeth) was over the tryline and was held up. When you play against the All Blacks, you get few chances, and you have to use those chances.
“We were over the tryline with those chances, but we just didn’t get points for it. It was more or less the same script of what happened at Ellis Park, where we went over the tryline three times, but it was not awarded.”
According to Nienaber, none of the players go out to knock the ball on when they go up for it during high kicks. He added that they will have to be better with their handling and aerial skills in future.
“Nobody goes out to have a poor start. You don’t go out and say, ‘Listen guys, let’s save ourselves for the second half’.
“Sometimes it happens, and if you make a mistake, you have to get over it quickly and move onto the next (phase) for a positive involvement in the game. We must get better at that.”
Steven Kitshoff, who was by far the busiest Springbok at the breakdowns, said if they did not make as many errors in the first 20 minutes, and had controlled the game a bit more, it would’ve been a different outcome.
“Ja, it always feels like when you lose a game, the words you use is ‘Wake-up call’! But for us, we’re trying to play a certain style and a certain brand that we worked on during the whole pre-season, building up in Pretoria,” the loosehead prop said.
“I just think if we could control those early tries and not make as many unnecessary errors, I think it would’ve been a different game.
“But it is a bit of a wake-up call, and we understand that Australia was a tough match, but it went away towards (the end) – I think it was maybe the altitude, or I don’t know what the reason was.
“But we knew coming to New Zealand, playing against a strong All Black team, it was going to be a tough one. It’s difficult (to stop their early momentum).
“A lot of things stuck for them in that first 20 minutes – a couple of offloads and the way they played a bit of pop-touch. It felt like it stuck, and we were just chasing ghosts for 20 minutes.”
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport