‘Boks have been in this situation before’
AT times during their loss to the Wallabies, the Springboks were their own worst enemies, conspiring against themselves to undo any momentum they generated, or making good on any positive play they created.
It was a plot-twist that very few expected.
During the 28-26 loss in the Rugby Championship encounter, the Boks uncharacteristically fell off tackles and were ill-disciplined, while their much-vaunted scrum came under unexpected pressure.
And it was indeed these facets of play that Bok utility forward Franco Mostert highlighted while speaking from Brisbane yesterday.
“We can definitely improve on our discipline,” said the lock-cum-flanker. “It let us down a bit.
“We did our reviews (on Tuesday), so (Wednesday) is a new day; we focus on the next game and where we can hopefully improve on the set-pieces and the developing situations in the game.
“Rugby is a funny game,” the man nicknamed ‘Sous’ continued.
“You can be at your best and still lose. It’s just the bounce of the ball and teams can capitalise on it. If you give stupid penalties away, you can find yourself three points, six points behind. It builds up.
“We know where we are, we have been in this situation before, so we know where to go from here, and that is a positive.”
That “situation” Mostert referred to is the recent trend by the Boks to fail in their first attempt, only to return stronger and more committed in the follow-up.
It happened in the first match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup when they lost to the All Blacks, and repeated itself in the first Test of the British & Irish Lions.
In both instances the Boks bounced back immediately to winning ways, famously triumphing in the 2019 tournament and then overcoming the Lions earlier this year to win the series 2-1.
They will now have to put in a similar herculean effort if they are to claim the Rugby Championship title by winning all their remaining matches, starting with the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday and then beating the New Zealanders twice in as many weeks.
As Mostert pertinently pointed out, they cannot do so if they replicate their performance of last weekend when they missed 21 tackles and conceded 11 penalties – seven of which were converted by the irrepressible boot of Quade Cooper, including his last-gasp winning shot at goal, and after receiving two sanctions that binned captain Siya Kolisi and Willie le Roux.
The 30-year-old Mostert also disclosed that the Boks would not be deviating from their game plan all that much, but would have to be more clinical in their execution.
“I don’t think we will be changing our approach,” he said.
“Everything mostly worked for us, but we can be just a little bit sharper in our exits and our scrums, and in our general plays – like cleaning and ball-carrying – and if we can get that right, I believe it will go better for us this weekend.”
Regarding injuries within the squad, forwards coach Deon Davids said that the full extent of the niggles will be known today, which will be when the match-day 23 is announced for the return Test against the Australians.
Meanwhile, lock Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg will miss the remainder of the tournament due to personal reasons.
Utility forwards Rynhardt Elstadt and Jean-luc du Preez, along with established locks Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Marvin Orie and Mostert, will act as cover for the departing 27-year-old.