Ken Borland

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.

The Springboks were so structured and controlled in the first half of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town, but their coach Jacques Nienaber admitted that they lost all their shapes in the second half as they succumbed to a 22-17 defeat.

South Africa looked in control in the first half as they racked up a 12-3 lead, but then ironically, the Lions turned the tables and overwhelmed the Springboks by using the same tactics they are famous for against them. With the Lions going back to the basics and using the rolling maul and a precise kicking game, they transformed the match.

Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie opened the second half with a try from a maul and although the Springboks managed to scramble their way over the tryline twice thereafter, only one of them was legitimate.

From then on the Lions dictated the terms as they dominated the kicking battle and mauled with great effectiveness.

“It was the kicking game and they dominated there and that gave them territory and broken play. Our cohesion was good in the first half but we just did not have parity in the air in the second half. If Damian de Allende had scored then the result is in the balance, but we know any team coached by Warren Gatland has a massive kicking game, we just weren’t as good in the second half.

“We tried to keep on doing what we had been doing, being on the right side of the field, doing what you do to create penalties. But then we started giving stupid penalties away in the mauls. It was not a great second half and we have to be sharper and make sure we work on our communication.  We need to work on what was not good in the second half,” Nienaber said.

The aerial battle and the discipline of the Springboks are the two major areas they need to improve on, Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi both said.

“We know teams coached by Warren Gatland always have a massive kicking game, but our execution was not as good in the second half. The two big areas we need to sort out for the second Test are our discipline, which was not good in the second half and gave them opportunities to get into our half.

“We were also not so good in the air and they got a big advantage from those loose balls. We will have to have a look at why that happened,” Nienaber said.

The Reds must be heartily sick of the view from behind the Loftus Versfeld goalposts as they succumbed to another heavy defeat there at the hands of the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday night, conceding six tries in a 43-22 defeat.

The Blue Bulls played like an old man stumbling around without his glasses in the dark as they succumbed to a 23-18 defeat at the hands of Western Province in their Currie Cup semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Western Province scored the only two tries of the game and were much more clinical than a Bulls team that piled error upon error and lacked the usual spark and tempo to their game.

The most inexplicable of these errors were the two times right wing Travis Ismaiel gifted the ball to predatory Western Province fullback Cheslin Kolbe, leading to the two tries which gave the visitors the breathing space they needed after the Bulls dominated possession in the opening stages of the second half.

The Bulls were leading 12-9, flyhalf Tian Schoeman having broken the 9-9 halftime deadlock with his fourth penalty, when loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff, who had a big impact on the game, won a turnover deep inside Western Province territory. The visitors predictably counter-attacked and outside centre Johnny Kotze put the grubber through for Kolbe. Ismaiel was chasing back but, seeing fullback Warrick Gelant coming across, he held back, allowing Kolbe to steal the ball with the sublime hands of a pickpocket and race over for the try.

While that may just have been a misunderstanding, the mistake Ismaiel made in the 71^st minute was unforgivable, as was the fact that the Bulls had just lost an attacking lineout five metres from the Western Province line.

Kolbe kicked ahead and caught the sluggish Ismaiel, who was forced to run into touch. But instead of getting rid of the ball, he allowed Kolbe to grab it and throw a quick lineout to flank Sikhumbuzo Notshe, with replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman then flinging a pass out wide for substitute scrumhalf Jano Vermaak to finish in lots of space.

Ismaiel’s bloopers may have been the most obvious, but there were plenty of villains on the night for the Bulls. Francois Hougaard was hesitant with his service at scrumhalf and often kicked when he shouldn’t have, as well as kicking three balls directly out that cost the home side valuable territory.

Territory was a problem for the Bulls for almost the whole game and their scrums were also wobbly, giving away penalties, but improved when Werner Kruger came on off the bench.

Western Province dominated possession but also made plenty of mistakes in a nervy semi-final. But their greater experience was perhaps the telling factor as they made the hard work of their pack count enough times to win the game.

Flyhalf Robert du Preez added three penalties and a conversion to the tries and Coleman’s solitary conversion.

Scorers

Blue Bulls – Penalties: Tian Schoeman (6).

Western Province – Tries: Cheslin Kolbe, Jano Vermaak. Conversions: Robert du Preez, Kurt Coleman. Penalties: Du Preez (3).