Boks lacking killer instinct

A massively disappointing performance from the Springboks in going down 35-23 to the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday made one thing painfully clear.

It made it very clear that this Bok team will never be able to dominate world rugby like some of the All Blacks sides have during the professional era.

Particularly the All Black teams of Steve Hansen and Graham Henry, which during the course of their coaching tenures enjoyed incredible win ratios of 88.79% and 85.4% respectively.

Under Hansen the All Blacks managed to win 93 of his 107 games, while under Henry they won 88 of his 103, proving how winning became a habit for them over a combined 14 year period.

The current Springbok team is incredibly talented and if you were to match them up against the New Zealand sides over that time, they would be able to challenge them.

They might not be able to have as much consistent success, but they would certainly be able to do a lot better than they are currently.

It is tough to judge the Boks on their performances in 2021, because with the Covid pandemic still in full swing it was a difficult time, but they were not the only side affected by it.

They started their season well, proving their worth by beating the British and Irish Lions 2-1 and then comfortably brushed aside Argentina in two games.

But their inconsistency then reared its ugly head over the rest of the season as they suffered two defeats against Australia and then lost to England in the final game of their end-ofyear tour,

The start of this season has been no different, and the Boks should be enjoying a perfect win record of five out of five, having had the benefit of playing all five games so far at home.

Part of the reason for their inconsistency could be because of a lack of a killer instinct, with the Boks guilty of respecting their opponents too much, but it also boils down to a game plan which can always go either way, exactly why they will never become a dominant force.