Allister: Boks hit by perfect storm, but Rome wasn’t built in a day ...
JOHANNESBURG: One defeat doesn’t make the Springboks a bad team. That was the defiant stance of coach Allister Coetzee when he returned home yesterday evening following his team’s record 57-0 hiding at the hands of the All Blacks at the weekend.
The Boks’ returned home with two Rugby Championship points in the bag following their drawn match against Australia the week before, but the chances of the Boks winning the competition are now zero; the All Blacks made sure of that.
In a stunning display of near perfect rugby Steve Hansen’s men smashed the Boks in all departments on Saturday, handing Coetzee’s team their second straight 50-point drubbing. In Durban last year Coetzee’s men lost 57-15.
But Coetzee said he wouldn’t let the defeat define him or the team.
“You don’t get defined by one defeat. Even the All Blacks lost to the British and Irish Lions earlier this year ... and they didn’t become a bad team,” he said.
“We’re being tested in the depth department (following a few injuries) and new players coming in this year, but I believe the progress is still there. We’ve had one defeat out of seven (games) and brought two points back home; that’s the story.
“We hit the perfect storm ... they’d been criticised for their performances against Australia and Argentina, and we all know you don’t need to motivate the All Blacks to play against the Boks.
“It was the perfect day for them; we didn’t execute and they punished us.”
Having now faced the best team in the world, Coetzee said the Boks had a greater idea of the challenges ahead, and what they need to work on to measure up.
“The pressure the All Blacks exerted through their rush defence was a new experience for some of the players. For physicality and intensity we are also far behind.
“But this is not the time to make knee-jerk decisions and I’m not going to blame any individuals for what happened. We’re a team and it’s also important to note that Rome wasn’t built in one day.
“When you go through a transition, one must not only focus on the storms, but look at the rainbow as well.”
Skipper Eben Etzebeth said the Boks had been brought back to earth after going unbeaten until Saturday. “We’d like to believe this was a onceoff thing ... where they were very good and we were very bad.
“This does not define Springbok rugby. We must now step up, go back to what we know, and rely on our culture. That’s in place and I believe the guys can fall back on that.
“One result doesn’t change that.”