John Kirwan has explained what All Blacks wing Leroy Carter did wrong when handed off by Springbok centre Jesse Kriel at FNB Stadium.
Carter endured a difficult evening defensively in New Zealand’s 29-24 defeat, missing Damian de Allende in the build-up to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s first-half try before Kriel beat him to score in the 57th minute when the Boks were trailing 17-12.
Speaking on the Rugby Rivals podcast, Kirwan sympathised with Carter.
“I really like Leroy and I’ve been in a similar situation before where if you miss a tackle and you’re a lock, no one really notices because you’re in the middle of the field,” the former All Blacks wing said.
“When you miss a couple of tackles like that, you feel like digging a hole. Leroy will learn from that.”
ALSO: All Blacks coach tired of the same story
Kirwan believes Carter’s mistake against Kriel was committing himself too quickly.
“What he did was rush, so when you’re in a situation like that and your opposition is coming at you, and you go too fast at him, he’s got all the options.
“What Kriel does with his fend is he never puts his fend out and then when you hit him, he uses it, so from a technical point of view, that’s one of the hardest guys to tackle.
“If Leroy slowed a wee bit and then let him do his stuff, it might have been a bit better. I just think he rushed.”
Jesse Kriel wrestles his way free to score
Stream #RugbysGreatestRivalry on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/iIZShGWMnI
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 5, 2026
Kirwan stressed that Carter had also made a significant contribution on attack.
“The try that Will Jordan scored was a lot to do with Leroy, so Leroy’s a quality player but he made a couple of defensive errors that really cost us.”
The defeat left the All Blacks 2-1 down in the four-Test series ahead of Saturday’s finale in Baltimore, and Kirwan believes eliminating such costly errors will be crucial.
“When you look at the game, two missed tackles, a couple of scrums and that amazing [Bok] maul, we’ve just got to get way better in those tight situations,” he said.
Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The post JK: Carter defensive errors really cost us appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
John Kirwan has explained what All Blacks wing Leroy Carter did wrong when handed off by Springbok centre Jesse Kriel at FNB Stadium.
The post JK: Carter defensive errors really cost us appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
