Ken Borland

All Blacks captain Sam Cane on Tuesday described their squad as being “disappointed and hurt” by their comprehensive defeat in their opening Rugby Championship Test against the Springboks in Nelspruit last weekend, and he says this week has been all about ensuring they are more clinical and efficient.

While the Springboks are buoyant after their 26-10 win, their second biggest ever over their greatest rivals, the All Blacks go to Ellis Park on Saturday having lost three matches in a row this year including the previous two defeats to Ireland.

“As disappointed and hurt as we are, there is nowhere else we would want to be than having another crack at them,” Cane said after New Zealand’s training session in Inanda on Tuesday.

“We are far happier getting back on the horse that sitting on the plane back home not having won a Test. Yesterday [Monday] we had a good look at the opportunities we wasted and where we need to be sharper.

“We have been brutally honest with each other, it’s nothing personal but just trying to get better as a team as a whole. We’re obviously not happy with the results, but there’s been no lack of effort.

“It’s a good camp to be involved in, hand on heart we are tight as a group, but it’s just frustrating that that’s not translating on to the field. There’s a trophy [Freedom Cup] on the line at Ellis Park and we are desperate for a better performance,” Cane said.

While the loose forward praised the Springboks for “knowing their game and executing extremely well”, he said the All Blacks had focused in their training on not just key weak points in Nelspruit like the aerial battle and the breakdown, but also on the unexpected.

“There were 15 contestable kicks last weekend and we only took five of them, so we expect the Springboks to keep going with that, and they also had good success at the breakdown,” Cane said.

“But it would be naïve not to think they will try to exploit us in different areas too. So our focus has been more on what we can control.

“I thought we had good intensity last week, but their pressure in key moments flipped our momentum. In the first half we were hardly able to have a crack at them.

“Our defensive intensity was right up there, we defended the breakdowns really well. So I don’t think we’re far off and there were definitely steps in the right direction,” Cane said.

Proteas Test captain Dean Elgar admitted on Monday that getting his beloved fast bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada fully fit for the first Test against England is now their main focus as they prepare for the series, which starts on August 17, in Canterbury.

Rabada injured the ligaments in his left ankle 10 days ago and missed the third T20 against England and both matches versus Ireland. Elgar’s relationship with Rabada can almost be described as a love/hate one because the skipper clearly relies on his great fast bowler, but has also used some interesting tough love motivational tactics to get the best out of him.

“KG’s fitness is one of our top priorities,” Elgar said. “He has bowled again in the nets, but his workloads are the biggest concern at the moment, ensuring he can handle the intensity and carry himself through several days of Test cricket. But there are still eight days to go before the first Test.”

Elgar is backing his bowling attack to counter the powerful England batting line-up’s ultra-aggressive, sensational ‘BazBall’ approach.

“Good for them [England]. They’ve obviously taken a few risks that have paid off, but in conditions that have helped that style of cricket. ‘BazBall’ has caused a few conversations around the world.

“But I’m not too concerned, I’m just focused on my squad. It’s great to have Anrich Nortje back, we’ve missed him because he was injured for most of the last year. He’s big for us, he brings a whole different aspect in terms of pace.

“Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj give us more options coming to the UK, and it’s by no means off the table playing two spinners, they may well start again. But we could also go four seamers and one spinner too,” Elgar said.

And the skipper says he will not be cussing at his Proteas team-mates in the build-up to the first Test.

“I will give the players more love going into the Test match. I like to think what we’ve created and what I’ve learnt over the last year has given us a lot more resources.”

And amongst those resources are batsmen fresh off good form in the white-ball part of the tour, as well as players who have shone in county cricket – Ryan Rickelton, Harmer and Keegan Petersen.

“We have some brilliant options, we tick all the boxes, with guys from county cricket who have done pretty well. So that’s a massive asset, their experience in these conditions, knowing how the ball will react,” Elgar said.

“Plus our white-ball batsmen have been pretty successful and they’ll be bringing confidence into the series. It’s like a breath of fresh air.

“I’m very much inclined to have those players around who have vast experience in county cricket and use them to our advantage. It would be stupid not to use them even if they’re not playing.

“The biggest thing about Ryan Rickelton is that he was given opportunity and I felt he took it with both hands. Now what he has done on the county circuit with Northamptonshire will be a massive confidence boost for him.

“How we view him is that he’s obviously a massive contender to keep his spot. He’s done everything the right way, he’s put numbers on the board,” Elgar said.

An All Blacks side whose skills let them down in a Test match is certainly not the norm, and flyhalf Richie Mounga admitted on Monday that it was Springbok pressure that led to New Zealand’s error-strewn display in a 26-10 defeat at the Mbombela Stadium at the weekend.

South Africa produced an epic defensive display: their rush off the line, their scrambling and physical dominance of the gain-line; and their aerial mastery and an outstanding performance by the pack in the set-pieces were all too much for the All Blacks as the Springboks recorded their biggest winning margin over their greatest rivals since their 17-0 win in Durban in 1928.

“It was obviously very disappointing for us but it confirmed how good this South African team is,” Mounga said at their Sandton hotel on Monday. “They just build so much pressure.

“With their set-piece, coming round the corner and getting penalties, it just becomes an ongoing cycle that is really difficult to get out of. We’ll have to talk about how to counter that.

“It was just a matter of skill errors. You don’t have to be in the right frame of mind to catch the ball, to do your job or do the basics right. But not doing those put is in that cycle.

“It’s called a Test match for a reason because it will test your skill. It was tough to get around them, their high line put us under big pressure. The things we spoke about in order to combat that, we didn’t do well at all,” Mounga, who is likely to start at flyhalf on Saturday at Ellis Park because Beauden Barrett was injured in his collision with Kurt-Lee Arendse, said.

The classy Crusaders star said the All Blacks are trying to shut out all the outside noise, but he understands why their fans are up in arms.

“We know our fans can get frustrated with results and that is very fair, and it’s fair for them to care,” Mounga said. “We know that our performance was not good enough for All Blacks standard.

“But we don’t care what the fans think, I don’t really care what people think if they’re not in our squad. We are so close, but close is not good enough at this level.

“The Springboks’ game-plan is simple – they build numerous consecutive positive plays and that puts you under pressure. It takes just simple execution to change that.

“The most basic skills we couldn’t execute, but if we can fix that then we can start to put them under pressure. At the moment we’re frustrated because we’re making the same errors,” Mounga said.

Despite now being faced with the toughest of selection conundrums, coach Mark Boucher feels no sorrow at all for the difficult decisions he will have to make ahead of the T20 World Cup following the Proteas adding a series win over Ireland to their heady triumph over England.

With Reeza Hendricks in rampant form at the top of the order, Aiden Markram continuing to be an explosive presence in the middle-order and Rilee Rossouw showing his class, it seems inevitable that one of stalwart Rassie van der Dussen, appointed captain Temba Bavuma or even a struggling Quinton de Kock will not be selected for the World Cup in Australia in October.

Wayne Parnell’s superb five-wicket haul in the last T20 against Ireland also complicates the all-rounder situation, where he, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo are probably competing for just two spots in a 15-man squad.

“As part of the selection panel, there are some tough choices to be made,” Boucher admitted after the 44-run win in Bristol on Friday night. “But it’s a good headache to have, especially with the World Cup around the corner.

“There’s great competition in the squad in quite a few different positions. We gave guys opportunities and they have come good. I like the brand of cricket they have played, it has been brave but smart.

“The guys coming back in have had fantastic attitudes and put in good performances, they’ve definitely added a different dimension. There’s not space for anyone to rest, guys keep challenging for selection and pushing the others to greater heights.

“It’s a very healthy place to be in for South African cricket. A year ago we would not have been having these discussions, so we have a lot more depth now,” Boucher said.

The coach said he was particularly impressed with what Hendricks has done, as he has basically reinvented himself as an aggressive opening batsman.

“Reeza has really come good, being Man of the Series twice in a row and scoring four successive fifties against very good opposition. We always knew he could play.

“But the way he has gone about it, his change in mindset to now being more aggressive, has really stood out. I know Justin Sammons [batting consultant] has done a lot of work with him.

“So credit to Justin, he’s been fantastic with the blueprints he has come up with and he’s had tremendous conversations with the players.

“As the coach, it’s up to me to come up with strategies – how we want to play in different conditions in Australia. The selection panel will then decide what characters they want to get that done,” Boucher said.