Prop Wilco Louw admits the Springboks’ scrum dominance against the All Blacks will count for little unless they can turn that advantage into points in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
The Boks enjoyed several periods of dominance at scrum time during their 33-16 defeat at Ellis Park, but were unable to translate it into scoreboard pressure as New Zealand punished their mistakes and took their opportunities.
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Louw believes the battle up front will remain a key feature when the rivals meet again at Cape Town Stadium.
“It’s a Test match so there’s never an easy scrum, they played really well and it was a tough battle, they got a few rewards and we got a few rewards,” Louw said.
But the 32-year-old admitted the Springboks were frustrated that their dominance in one of their traditional areas of strength did not result in more points.
“It’s very disappointing but they used their opportunities very well,” he said.
“The scrum is part of the game and they have a very proud scrum culture in their team and the same with us. We are obviously very disappointed, I just think we need to use our opportunities better, and they did it.”
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That failure to convert pressure proved costly as the Boks also made a number of uncharacteristic errors inside the All Blacks’ 22, allowing the visitors to escape when they had built promising attacking positions.
Louw says the lesson heading into the second Test is simple: the Boks must be more clinical.
“The game goes in different directions, we had scrum dominance here and there, and they used their opportunities better,” he said.
“We have to be clinical and focus on us and try to use our opportunities better when they come.”
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Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Wilco: Boks have to be clinical appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Prop Wilco Louw admits the Springboks’ scrum dominance against the All Blacks will count for little unless they can turn that advantage into points in Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.
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