Victor Matfield says the Springboks played too much against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and will need to “grind more” at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The Boks lost the opening Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 33-16 despite enjoying 60% of the territory, edging the possession stats and making 11 entries into the All Blacks’ 22. They also dominated at scrum time until the 55th minute, when the visitors won a game-changing penalty.
Coach Rassie Erasmus has responded with several changes for the second Test, installing the experienced Handré Pollard and Cobus Reinach at flyhalf and scrumhalf respectively, while Ethan Hooker starts on the left wing.
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Captain Siya Kolisi is bracketed with Paul de Villiers at openside flank pending an injury assessment, while Erasmus has also revamped his bench, with Deon Fourie, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, Cameron Hanekom and Morné van den Berg brought into the match 23.
Speaking on the Rugby Rivals podcast, Matfield said it would be a “difficult week” for the Boks, because they did so much right at Ellis Park.
“Was the attitude there? Yes, because we dominated for 55 minutes. Did we dominate the scrums? Yes, we did. Did we get more lineout steals than the All Blacks? Yes, we did. Did we get more linebreaks? Yes, we did.
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“The only thing we couldn’t do is convert in the 22. That’s definitely a work-on and I thought our attack in the 22, with the communication …
“You’ll never see a Springbok team when they have a good game give more than 10 turnovers. We gave 21 turnovers away.
“So maybe we play too much. Maybe we must play less, kick more, grind more.”
With the Boks now needing three consecutive victories to win the four-Test series, Matfield said they cannot afford to look beyond Cape Town.
“That’s the only focus we can have. We go into this game and say, ‘Listen, we need to go and beat the All Blacks.’ It’s a one-off Test match.”
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Matfield also backed the Boks to bounce back.
“There’s one team that lost the first British & Irish Lions game and won the series. The only team that lost in the pool stage twice at a World Cup and still won the World Cup.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post Matfield: Boks must play less, kick more appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Victor Matfield says the Springboks “played too much” against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and will need to “grind more” at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The post Matfield: Boks must play less, kick more appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
