Ken Borland

The harsher critics of the Springboks are having a field day saying their reign at the top of the rugby world is going to the dogs, but assistant coach Deon Davids said on Monday that the team need to take the emotion out of their review of the back-to-back defeats against Australia as they prepare to face the mighty All Blacks this weekend.

The Springbok game-plan has been the object of much derision from their rivals who could not prevent them winning the World Cup, as well as seeing off the British and Irish Lions. But a strangely flat performance against the Wallabies last weekend, leading to a 30-17 defeat, has raised questions about how keen the Springboks are to keep chasing and tackling themselves into oblivion.

“We will be the first to say our performance has not been up to standard in the last two games and we need to look at the reasons for that. But it’s important to look objectively at our performance, we want to take the emotion out of it as quickly as possible. We need to look at how the plan was executed, did we stay in the task and then move on to the next challenge?

“We can’t dwell on things that are in the past, we have to focus on what we need to improve and what we need to do. And then prepare effectively to make sure we perform the way we need to. Obviously when you lose two consecutive games, it’s natural to get emotional and you can look for reasons that are not actually the case. We need to go back to our strengths,” Davids said on Monday.

The Springboks’ very specific game-plan needs multiple facets of their play to be working like clockwork and Davids is confident they can regain the required cohesion and fervour against the All Blacks for the 100^th Test between the two great rivals, in Townsville on Saturday.

“We understand what we want to achieve, what we want to do with the ball where and when. Against New Zealand, we’ve got to be good in all areas, especially technically. But this group of players has been in this position before, they lost the first Test against the Lions and their first game at the World Cup, but they were able to pick themselves up because there’s a lot of experience in the team.

“I’m confident we will be back at the standard we are used to, even though there are physical and mental challenges due to the circumstances caused by Covid, which will have some sort of effect. But we had an idea of the challenges before we started this campaign and we prepared to adapt to circumstances. There is nothing standing in the way of us giving our best in these next two weeks,” Davids said.

The daunting All Blacks are South Africa’s next opponents in the Rugby Championship and they need to get down to business this week and fix the many aspects of their game that have not been functioning over the last two weekends and the back-to-back losses to Australia.

The only problem is coach Jacques Nienaber said at the weekend that he doesn’t really know where to start, which is as much of an admission of the numerous problems the Springboks have as anything else.

Captain Siya Kolisi did put his hand up and say the players are to blame because they have been given a plan – which we know has worked in the past – by the coaching staff. But any plan is only as good as its implementation … and the Springboks’ execution has been terrible.

Over the last two weeks they have produced sloppy rugby that is not worthy of either the world champions tag or the number one ranking.

What is certain is that the senior players, the World Cup winners, need to step up now and be willing to get their hands dirty on the gainline and at the breakdown, and make their tackles. The Wallabies have thoroughly dominated those crucial departments of the game, where the usually famously physical Springboks have been strangely timid. Their ball-carries have been faltering and tactically they seem to have ignored the enormous pressure the Wallabies put on the breakdown.

In terms of personnel changes, including Cheslin Kolbe on the wing will provide some x-factor, but South Africa’s many efforts to get the ball wide at the weekend were fruitless because a lack of direct running in the build-up meant Sbu Nkosi and Makazole Mapimpi received the ball with not enough space to work with. Centres Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende quickly need to regain the form they showed in the British and Irish Lions series.

Likewise Duane Vermeulen has been a pale shadow of his usual self at eighthman, but more game time will hopefully work, while Eben Etzebeth’s lack of dominance is perhaps due to too much rugby.

Franco Mostert was one of the more industrious forwards on the field at the weekend, but would he not be better employed at lock, especially if Lood de Jager is still not over his concussion? That would allow a powerful ball-carrier like Dan or Jean-Luc du Preez to be included on the blindside flank.

The much-vaunted Stormers front row of Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff have also not had their usual impact, although South Africa’s set-pieces have been solid.

Coach Jacques Nienaber said it was the worst Springbok performance in three years as they succumbed to a 30-17 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday, which would seem to be a fair call based on how thoroughly dismal South Africa were in so many departments.

It started at the breakdowns, where the Springboks conceded a dozen turnovers on attack, the defence was astonishingly ineffective as South Africa missed 20 of their 88 tackles, and they were too lateral with ball-in-hand and poor in the basic skills of handling and passing.

“I was disappointed with every department of our play today, we were beaten hands down. We have to figure out quickly why because I can’t put my finger on a reason at the moment and we have a massive challenge coming up next weekend against the All Blacks. We get tested differently by our Sanzaar partners and it has been a big eye-opener for us.

“It definitely wasn’t just our worst performance this year but our worst since 2018 when we lost to Argentina in Mendoza. We weren’t great at everything. The defence was not up to standard, it’s the first time we’ve conceded four tries since against New Zealand in 2018. We did have a bit of attacking opportunity, but there were lots of errors, too many with ball-in-hand,” Nienaber said after the match.

Skipper Siya Kolisi said he was shocked by how poorly his team had played, describing their preparation as being good.

“We’ve been training very well but then every single guy made mistakes today. You make a mistake at one maul and then it carries through to the next maul. We were losing things which we are normally good at, like physicality. Oh we need to look at ourselves alright and pull tighter together. We were well-prepared for this game but we just couldn’t enforce what we had planned.

“Especially at the breakdowns, we spoke about it on the field but just did not deliver. Losing breakdowns, especially the wide ones, was one of the big things we chatted about at halftime, but then it happened again in the second half. As players we have to take the responsibility for that. I wouldn’t go as far as to say our plan is not working, it’s just we did not implement it properly and we missed 20 tackles,” Kolisi said.

For a second week in a row, the Springboks produced a messy, error-strewn performance as Australia showed top-class finishing to beat them 30-17 in their Rugby Championship Test in Brisbane on Saturday.

A clinical Wallabies side did not need to create a whole lot as they were gifted a bonus point through a slew of basics mistakes by the Springboks, who showed a dismal lack of nous and accuracy at the breakdown. A ruthless Australian backline capitalised on ample turnover ball with centre Len Ikitau and wing Marika Koroibete both scoring twice.

They were helped by a dreadfully scrappy defensive effort by the visitors, with a third of their tackles missed.

South Africa made a terrible start to the game as scrumhalf Faf de Klerk was yellow-carded for a stupid act of ill-discipline, playing his opposite number at a ruck on his 22-metre line. Ikitau burst through two soft tackles to score the opening try after the penalty was kicked to touch, but more importantly, Australia had been gifted momentum and a firm grip on the match from early in the piece.

Ikitau scored again just before De Klerk returned, hooker Folau Fainga’a’s strong charge giving them front-foot ball and a killer inside pass from fullback Tom Banks to Koroibete providing the centre with the space needed for the try.

The Springboks were already chasing the game after a torrid first quarter, trailing 3-12. They managed to keep a finger-hold on the game though as flyhalf Handre Pollard nailed all his shots at goal for a 12-15 deficit at halftime.

Forty minutes can be a long time in rugby and De Klerk began the second half by making up for his blunder in the first half, injecting immediate energy with a blindside break and then putting a lovely grubber through for centre Lukhanyo Am to score.

South Africa had snatched a 17-15 lead and there was renewed hope.

But Springbok fans have spent a lifetime waiting for their team to really dominate the Wallabies on their home turf, and it was the home side who thoroughly dominated the rest of the match.

The lead lasted just eight minutes as the Wallabies won territory thanks to a good kick by scrumhalf Nic White and then Quade Cooper slotted a penalty for offsides (18-17).

The basic skills of passing and handling seemingly deserted the Springboks after the hour mark, a series of errors culminating in replacement scrumhalf Tate McDermott sniping from a scrum, Australia then went blind and a sublime offload by tighthead prop Taniela Tupou put Koroibete away for the try.

With 12 minutes remaining, another Brisbane battering was sealed as more woeful breakdown work by the Springboks gifted a turnover, replacement flank Pete Samu burst clear and set up an easy run-in for Koroibete’s second try.

The Springboks spent the last 10 minutes battering away in Wallabies territory but had nothing to show for it as they regularly turned possession over. It is hard to remember when last South Africa were so poor at usual strengths like the breakdowns and defence.

Scorers

Australia: Tries – Len Ikitau (2), Marika Koroibete (2). Conversions – Quade Cooper (2). Penalties – Cooper (2);.

South Africa: Try – Lukhanyo Am. Penalties – Handre Pollard (4).