Boks aim to be better in second Test – Reinach
· Citizen
Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach said the Springboks will be out to put in a better performance in their second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Boks lost the first Test 33-16 despite controlling possession, territory and the scrum battle for the first 55 minutes.
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They had already made several errors under pressure to trail 19-16 at that point, but when their third scrum in front of the All Blacks’ posts resulted in a penalty against them, they lost momentum and the All Blacks ran away with the game.
‘Four chances’
Reinach (deliberate knock-on) and Marco van Staden (dangerous cleanout) received yellow cards about 10 minutes from time to compound the Springboks’ woes and make a comeback impossible.
The scrumhalf said reviewing footage of the incident, and the whole game, wasn’t enjoyable. But it was necessary.
“We were so close, we were very dominant up until about 60 minutes,” Reinach said.
“We were just a bit inaccurate in a few departments and we have this week to fix it. Luckily in this competition we have four chances to get our game better.”
Reinach hopes Springboks can bounce back
Just as head coach Rassie Erasmus said after the game, Reinach stressed that most of the Boks’ errors were the result of pressure exerted by the All Blacks.
“Credit to them. They put us under pressure and made us do things that led to the yellow.
“It is now up to us to look at that and see how we can make a different plan. A review after a loss is never good but it’s learnings.
“As long as we learn as a team and grow as a team, we are in a good place.”
Reflecting on the All Blacks’ chargedown try after fellow Bok scrumhalf Grant Williams tried to clear the ball, as well as messy breakdowns, Reinach said New Zealand were not outright targeting the nines, per se.
“I don’t think they targeted the nines. I think they went after our breakdown quite hard, trying to slow down the ball. Throwing their legs around and things like that.
“We felt the pressure and knew we needed to get the ball out somehow. When we train against each other we try and emulate it and see how we can improve.”
He said the Springboks were not under much pressure to bounce back, when compared to the “actual” pressure and struggles people in South Africa face.
Hopefully, the Springboks could win and give South Africans something to be happy about.