Springbok coach Jake White believes that his team can still claw themselves out of one of their worst runs to date after sinking to their fifth successive defeat when the All Blacks beat them 45-26 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
”These are very trying times for the team but I have full faith in my players. These are the same players who have achieved in the past so there is no reason for me not to have faith in them,” White
But what was a major concern for White was how his team failed to capitalise after a dominating start over the reigning Tri-Nations champions and how, after 20 minutes of enjoying the lead, the Boks capitulated and leaked in five tries.
Furthermore the Springboks failed to keep their defence lines with the All Blacks almost guaranteed of points every time they launched an attack at the
The Boks did manage to score three tries, the first going to Fourie du Preez in the ninth minute and the last two scored by Jaque Fourie in the dying moments of the game.
”I couldn’t understand why we went from a boil to giving them the game. The concern is that we had a good start but we failed to capitalise on it. When we make mistakes like that against a team like the All Blacks they will punish you. One can’t praise them enough, we’ve got to give them credit. We gave them a lot of amount
of space, we’ve got to see why we gave them so much space. We allowed the All Blacks to play the way they wanted to play,” White said at the post-match press briefing.
Springbok captain John Smit admitted that the match was a constant uphill battle.
”We can’t blame the referee. I looked frustrated at times because it was an uphill battle,” said Smit.
It was even disappointing for debutants BJ Botha, Ruan Pienaar and Chiliboy Ralepelle.
”It is disappointing and certainly not the kind of environment we want to bring these guys in to. It is sad we couldn’t bring them in with a win,” White
The Boks will face an even tougher task next Saturday when they take on the All Blacks again at the Royal Bafokeng Sport Palace in Phokeng.
”It’s tough every week. It is always going to be tough, it is a must win Test every week,” said White. – Sapa