Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber lamented his team’s hesitant start in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship Test that paved the way to a 35-20 (halftime 20-3) defeat by New Zealand in Auckland yesterday.
The Springboks conceded 17 points in the first 15 minutes, and although they edged the scoreboard in the second half (17-15), they had left too much to do to
record a third match undefeated in New Zealand.
“The start wasn’t ideal for us,” said Nienaber ruefully.
“I felt we struggled to get into the game because of poor discipline – four consecutive penalties – and a lot of mistakes compounded by four or five missed tackles and against a quality side like New Zealand they will capitalise on that.
“They did that, and we played catch-up for the rest of the time. We can’t start like that with penalties and errors, probably some of them unforced and some from the pressure exerted on us, and if you’re going to play catch-up it’s going to be tough to get a foothold.
“I don’t think it’s a thing that we regularly start badly – no one goes out to have a poor start and say, ‘let’s save ourselves for the second half’. Sometimes you make a mistake or two and are on the back foot. We knew what was coming; we just didn’t handle it.
“Having said that, I’m proud of the way we came back; we scored 17 points in the second half but unfortunately the damage was done in the first half.”
Nienaber said that the two opening matches of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship had served a purpose although they had not gone entirely to plan. – SARugby.co.za
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