John Smit says the Springboks “can’t panic” after losing to the All Blacks at Ellis Park and has backed them to bounce back in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
The Boks went into the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series on a 12-match winning streak but suffered a 33-16 defeat in Johannesburg, putting them under early pressure in the four-Test showdown.
“I reckon this week will be about: you can’t panic now,” the former Bok captain said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby AUNZ podcast. “So, I think it’s all about the calm and trying to find their rhythm again.
“South Africa will be depressed into all hell, and it’ll be like the world has come to an end and what is happening. People quite easily go from zero to catastrophe in South Africa when the Boks lose.”
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Smit said that if he were were captain, his message would be to focus on how much of the first Test the Boks controlled rather than the final margin.
“Malcolm [Marx] loses a ball over the line, and the next thing, the nine [Grant Williams] gets charged down, and it’s a 14-point swing. You go from having momentum to getting a spanking. So, I would definitely be trying to bring in some calm and saying, ‘Let’s not panic’.
“We haven’t become a s**t team in one day. We actually have the ability to bounce back and give this series a proper go; there are three games left.”
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Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Smit: Boks haven’t become a s**t team appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
John Smit says the Springboks “can’t panic” after losing to the All Blacks at Ellis Park and has backed them to bounce back in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
The post Smit: Boks haven’t become a s**t team appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
