Robertson bemoans small moments of ill-discipline
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson bemoaned small moments of ill-discipline for costing his side as South Africa overturned a 10-point deficit in the final quarter to win their Rugby Championship Test 31-27 at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Tries by replacement flank Kwagga Smith and substitute scrumhalf Grant Williams sealed a third successive win for the Springboks in this year’s Rugby Championship. But it was a game the All Blacks had dominated on the scoreboard for long periods, as they outscored the home side four tries to three.
“I’m so proud of the effort and the way we defended, it was just a little bit of ill-discipline by the lads that cost us, but those are the fine margins in Test footy,” Robertson said. “Some of the penalties were down to a bit of interpretation, but those small moments lead to a bit of momentum and the game changes.
“We still had opportunities to win the game, we’ve just got to execute better. Ellis Park is a helluva arena, what an atmosphere tonight and the crowd really gets involved. But that is where we thrive, we love those moments,” Robertson said.
His captain, lock Scott Barrett, echoed his remarks about discipline.
“The Springboks won the territory battle and then the crowd would get in behind them. But our lack of discipline would feed them. It’s frustrating to have that lead and then not to win at the end of the day. For us to take our foot off the pedal with 15 minutes to go was also frustrating, and a world-class team like the Springboks will punish you,” Barrett said.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that conceding four tries did annoy him and he said if the All Blacks had won the Test then they would have deserved the victory.
“We gave them a couple of easy tries, and their turnover attack hurt us the most when our defence was not quite set. But we defended really well when things were structured.
“We know the result could have gone the other way, we could have easily lost. If the All Blacks had won, they would have deserved it. But our character was there,” Erasmus said.
South Africa’s captain Siya Kolisi praised his team for refusing to go away, even when they were 27-17 down.
“We’ve been in far worse situations and nobody panicked tonight. What’s great about this team is that it doesn’t matter how many caps you have, they just say ‘okay, let’s concentrate on the next play’, like they did when New Zealand scored the intercept try,” Kolisi said.