Habana slams poor defence

SPRINGBOK wing Bryan Habana, who took his test try tally to 53 with two strikes against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday, was critical of himself and the team after losing the match.

The All Blacks scored a 38-27 win in one of the best clashes ever between these two old rivals. In all, nine tries were scored – five to the All Blacks and four to the Boks – but for all the drama the home team were left deflated afterwards.

It was the first time since 2010 and 39 tests that the All Blacks’ tryline had been breached four times.

“If we’re brutally honest with ourselves we just weren’t good enough tonight,” Habana said.

“We let people down who had started to believe in us again.

“We have come on since last year but we can’t use growth as an excuse all the time. If you want to become the best in the world you have to get there. The All Blacks also have some new guys in their setup but they are still winning.

“Someone like Willie le Roux has really taken the step up to test rugby. Another is Jan Serfontein, who is only 20 but is making an impact.

“But that said we have to start learning from these lessons.

“The All Blacks had 14 men on the field for 20 minutes of this game and still managed to capitalise.

“There are positives we can take out of this tournament but we didn’t achieve our goals.”

Habana struck twice in the space of two minutes in the opening quarter but then had to withdraw with a hamstring strain after fielding a high ball.

Poor defence was the Boks’ biggest achilles heel and three of New Zealand’s tries were the direct result of missed tackles.

“Games I’ve played in where we have enjoyed a fairytale ending have all been won on defence,” Habana said. “We pride ourselves on physicality as South Africans but we let ourselves down with our tackling at times.

“I missed one or two tackles myself and I have to look at my contribution critically as well. It was nice to score two tries because the coach asked me to stand up as one of the senior players.

“Before the game Heyneke [Meyer] asked us who was prepared to score the tries, and I didn’t immediately put my hand up.” ý See also Page 18