Nick Mallett believes the Springboks’ emphatic 45-21 victory over England did not fully reflect how competitive Saturday’s Nations Championship opener at Ellis Park was.
While the Boks eventually pulled away, Mallett felt England remained firmly in the contest until two yellow cards swung the momentum decisively towards the hosts.
“In the second half, the yellow cards really counted in our favour,” Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast.
“When they got those two yellow cards towards the end of the game, we really murdered them. I think the score flattered us a little bit. It felt to me more like a 10- to 15-point win, not a 24-point win we got in the end.”
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Mallett was, however, full of praise for several of the younger Boks, singling out flanker Paul de Villiers for his influence during an impressive first Test start.
“I thought the youngsters did really, really well – Paul de Villiers in particular in the first 15 minutes of the game.
“He won us that first penalty on the ground, his run off the back of the lineout set up that first try and he and Cameron Hanekom drove Thomas du Toit over the line for his try.”
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The former Bok coach also credited the Boks’ replacements with lifting the intensity when the game opened up in the final quarter.
“The bench was excellent. The bench came on at just the right time, and because we weren’t having too many driving mauls and scrums, we ended up having tremendous mobility from those tight forwards.
“Zach Porthen had a rampaging run, as did Jan-Hendrik Wessels. We saw Ben-Jason Dixon score a try but he was also all over the field.”
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The Springboks will now turn their attention to Saturday’s meeting with Scotland at Loftus Versfeld.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Mallett: Scoreline flattered Springboks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Nick Mallett believes the Springboks’ emphatic 45-21 victory over England did not fully reflect how competitive Saturday’s Nations Championship opener at Ellis Park was.
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