Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says they knew what was coming from the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday, but they could do nothing to stop the 35-20 Rugby Championship mauling from their hosts.
South Africa dropped the ball facing New Zealand’s kicking game and the fury with which their hosts racked up 17 unanswered points in the first 16 minutes.
Not our night in Auckland as NZ capitalise on a slow start and unnecessary errors by the #Springboks to take the win - congrats @AllBlacks 👏#StrongerTogether #NZLvRSA #Springboks #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/lFoWEjv7hx
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 15, 2023
That took the wind out of the Boks’ sails as they never recovered trying to play catchup.
Outscored by four tries from Aaron Smith, Shannon Frizell, Will Jordan and Richie Mo’unga to three scored by Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe and Kwagga Smith, Nienaber says of the lessons learnt: “You can’t start like that.
“You can’t start with that many penalties and errors, some unforced and some from the pressure they exerted on is. If you’re going to play catchup rugby it’s going to be tough...”
Of failing to deal with the All Blacks’ kicking game, Nienaber says dis niks nuut nie, explaining: “It’s similar to what they did against Argentina, England and in the end-of-year tour. We knew that was coming, we just couldn’t handle it.”
Respect. Always 🤝#StrongerTogether #NZLvRSA #Springboks #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/pExPj69bAI
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 15, 2023
Asked if the first quarter of the match was the worst ever under his guidance, Nienaber says: “I don’t know if it was the worst, last year at Ellis Park [when the Boks lost 35-23 to the All Blacks] we had a similar start where we made a lot of mistakes at the start and failed to make our opportunities count…
“It was almost the same script as that Ellis Park match…”
With only one round left to play in the Rugby Championship, SA will look to flip the script when they host Argentina at Ellis Park at the end of the month.