News

Boks rue poor decision-making

August 16 2008

The Springboks post-match comments following their 19-0 home loss to the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday can to summed up in two simple phrases: "We made poor decisions" and "we made too many simple mistakes".

Bok boss Peter de Villiers, captain Victor Matfield and centurion Percy Montgomery were all singing the same song after the match.

The Springboks were unable to cash in on a host of scoring opportunities as they took the wrong options, only to see their visitors to the exact opposite and send the Newlands faithful home with heads hung low.

"Technically we didn't do a lot wrong. I just think we made simple mistakes," said De Villiers after the match.

"The All Blacks tactical kicking in the second half was very good and they forced us to make simple mistakes."

With all the hype around veteran full-back Montgomery becoming the first South Africa to reach 100 caps, De Villiers felt his players got caught up in the moment.

"We're obviously very disappointed. We're all very happy for Percy. The guys were really excited for Percy and it took us 20 minutes to get into the game," said the coach.

"It started off badly for us and it just went worse - everyone tried so hard to rectify each other's mistakes that they made their own mistakes."

De Villiers wasn't prepared to entertain questions as to how he was going to pick his team up, promising only that his team would perform better in the future.

"You get those days when you make simple mistakes. If you look at how many balls went to the deck, that's not characteristic of the team and the players," he said.

"I know my guys and I know their abilities. We don't slip on the same banana peel twice. We can make one promise to our fans: we'll be back.

"They're professionals. They know they are capable of better and I know it too.

"They will pick themselves up. We just need to believe in ourselves. If you were in the dressing room now you could see the disappointment on each and every one of their faces. It's not because they lost a game but because they know they can do better."

It wasn't all gloom and doom from the Bok boss who was chuffed with his team's scrummaging performance.

"One enormous positive was at scrum time, which is where we normally struggle against [New Zealand]," he said.

"Even if they come with some new tactics to hit us, they didn't get it right."

What Tri-Nations fixtures could possibly end without a mention of the referee? Captain Matfield had his feathers ruffled in the first half as the All Blacks got the better of the breakdown.

"They played the referee. If it was legal or illegal I don't know, but they played the referee better than we did," said De Villiers.

Matfield added: "I think it's very difficult when you're in the heat of the moment.

"We're going to have to go back and have a look at the video. I felt the tackler kept on lying [on the ball].

"He [The referee] didn't really give me any answers, he was more worried about our guys coming in from the side."

De Villiers was willing to concede that his team's performances have been inconsistent, but asked for more time to instil his new vision of now South Africa should play the game.

"They [the players] are in a transition period at the moment. I've got a style of rugby that I want to implement and it [will take time]," he explained.

"If you look at a Super 14 team, it will take you more than a year and a half to get exactly what you want and we've made great progress.

"What we did in the past as South African rugby players when there was nothing on, is to go to ground - I want to do things the other way around. So they're used to [the old style of play] and when it gets tough, they go back to what they know. I but won't give up on that.

"We're not far [from what I want]. Maybe the fear factor is still there. We're not afraid of anyone on the field, maybe we're afraid of ourselves, afraid to make mistakes."

Matfield was not willing to say the defeat was a low point of his career, wanting rather to see the positives of the opportunities created.

"We created so many opportunities," he said.

"I felt we played better than the score reflected - but that's international rugby. It's one or two decisions that you make that makes you win or lose. It's a pity we made the wrong decisions at the wrong time."

Montgomery was in a similar frame of mind. While visibly disappointed with his performance on his big day, the record-setter wasn't about to dwell on defeat.

"The whole week has been so overwhelming," said Montgomery.

"I've had the support of the coach and the team and the fans. It's been a long career for me and it's all come together but unfortunately we didn't get the result we wanted today due to basic errors.

"But you know what? The best thing about rugby is we've got next week."

By Ross Hastie at Newlands