‘Mauling does not define this team’

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee says his charges should not be judged on their shambolic performance against the All Blacks in Albany 10 days ago.

In their last Rugby Championship outing against New Zealand on September 16‚ the Boks were hammered 57-0.

The Springboks can put the record defeat behind them when they play the Wallabies in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

In the lead-up to the Albany hammering‚ the Boks were unbeaten in six matches.

“I want to say it upfront that the Albany game doesn’t define this team‚” Coetzee said.

“It was one game where we were definitely poor. We were poor in terms of execution.

“The players already know it was substandard, but again‚ we won five out of seven matches and in those wins‚ we were outstanding. The All Blacks showed why they are the No 1 team in the world.”

Despite the bruising‚ the Springboks have a clean bill of health for Saturday, with only the players who missed the Albany Test‚ except for Ross Cronjé‚ still unavailable.

The Lions scrumhalf missed the mauling because of a stomach bug.

Coenie Oosthuizen and Jaco Kriel were the two players who cried off with injuries in the 23-all draw against Australia in Perth on September 9 and will remain unavailable for the matches against the Wallabies and the All Blacks.

Coetzee‚ though‚ made a serious statement by drafting in Sharks players Louis Schreuder and S’busiso Nkosi, while dropping experienced utility back Francois Hougaard.

Coetzee said Hougaard’s technical deficiencies at scrumhalf were exposed and needed working on, while Lions wing Ruan Combrinck needed to work on his all-round game. /