'Beaten in everything': Springboks label loss the worst since 2018
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber admitted he had no complaints following his team’s latest defeat by the Wallabies, South Africa getting walloped 30-17 in Brisbane just six days after losing 28-26 to a last-gasp Quade Cooper penalty kick on the Gold Coast. The Boks has been left ruing how they were agonisingly denied a round three Rugby Championship win but there were no ifs, buts and maybe in the aftermath of their latest loss.
Asked post-game about the areas of the game where the Springboks lost out, Nienaber said: “Everything. We were truly beaten, every department. We got hands down beaten in everything, defence, kicking game, attack, we just made too many errors. That is something we will have to figure out in the next week. We will have to figure it out quickly.
“It’s definitely not the worst performance of the year – it’s probably the worst performance since 2018 when we lost against Argentina in Mendoza. That is how poor this performance was. Definitely by far (the worst). Not a great performance.
“Our defence, the last time we conceded four tries in a game was against New Zealand in 2018 three years ago so it definitely wasn’t up to standard. Even our exit game, that wasn’t up to standard. It was inconsistent. Sometimes we had a good outcome and then other times we had poor outcomes which led to points for them. No, it wasn’t a great performance.”
The Springboks were looking good for a victory when Lukhanyo Am struck for an early second-half try which put them 17-15 ahead, but that was their last score as they had no answer to a power-packed Australian finish featuring a pair of tries from Marika Koroibete. While the Wallabies conceded 17 penalties to South Africa’s ten, too many other statistics counted against them.
Fans have expressed their awe at offloading exploits of Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou following his mercurial try assist against the Springboks. #AUSvRSA #Wallabies #Springboks #RugbyChampionship #TRC2021 https://t.co/6kCih8rkmA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2021
For instance, they conceded a dozen turnovers while they also missed 19 tackles, their figures showing just 69 completions out of 88 for a 78 per cent success rate. “We knew it was coming [the pressure the Aussies put on at the breakdown]. We prepped for it the whole week. They just overpowered us in that department. We knew it was coming and we spoke about it and not only that, we worked on it in training and it got quite heated as well. We had good plans in terms of how we thought we would handle it and we didn’t handle it on the day,” shrugged Nienaber, the Springboks head coach whose record in charge now reads five wins and three losses.
“We made a lot of errors with ball in hand. We made too many errors when the opportunity was on and then from a defence point of view, we just missed too many tackles. I have been involved in this squad since 2018 and this was an unheard-of performance in terms of missed tackles. It just never happens like that. If each player only misses one tackle, it’s 23 missed tackles in a game and that is probably what happened tonight.
“A defence system is there to put a defender across an attacker. That happens the majority of the time but then you must make the tackle and no system can make the tackle for you, that is you. It wasn’t difficult tackles where there were massive decisions that had to be made. We probably had a system failure for the last one where they scored, that scrum where they hit up and then came blind on us.
“When I looked at our reorganisation on the blindside that was an error from us, a system error. We weren’t in the right places. That is something we can fix, a system fix, but one-on-one tackles, we just need to make tackles and that is my job, to make sure they are up for it. Ninety per cent of that has to be in front of my door.”
It didn’t help either that the Springboks suffered two yellow cards. “The first one was Faf (de Klerk) slapping the ball down or playing the guy’s hands. I’m not 100 per cent sure but they felt he was in an offside position which I can’t say now whether he was or wasn’t. Jasper Wiese’s cleanout, we will have to have a look at that. Yeah, I’ll have to have a look at that. Jasper’s thing, I don’t think it was pressure in terms of going in but Faf’s might because it was after a linebreak.”
Having lost twice in succession to the Wallabies, the world champions now face a week of massive pressure ahead of their eagerly-awaited clash with the All Blacks in Townsville next weekend, the first meeting between the sides since a September 2019 World Cup pool win by New Zealand.
“A big one, it’s going to be a massive challenge, but the nice thing is it’s nice to play our Sanzaar teams,” suggested Nienaber, whose record in charge of the Springboks is sure to come under scrutiny if two more Championship losses materialise in the coming weeks. “You get tested differently and for us, it is a big eye-opener in terms of that and that is how big the challenge will be against New Zealand. It’s going to be a massive challenge.”
'We want to get the country behind us and you’ve got to give them performances to be proud of and hopefully we’ve made a start on that' #Wallabies #AUSvRSA https://t.co/rhJt2y9c3Q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Speell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
6 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to comments