Kolisi vows the Boks will be better

GIVEN the vast number of former South Africans living in Brisbane, it is more than ironic that the Springboks’ record in the Queensland capital is one of their worst in the world, and if the Boks are going to win on their hoodoo ground this morning (9.05am) they are going to have to produce something special.

The Springboks have played 15 Tests against the Wallabies in Brisbane since 1956 and have won only three of those matches, so it goes without saying that to a man they need to be substantially better than they were down the road from Brisbane on the Gold Coast last week.

Before that match, the Boks spoke at length about their poor record in Australia in general – just five wins in the last 30 years – but then proceeded to deliver a lacklustre performance that included 21 missed tackles and 11 penalties, some of which were plain recklessness.

Siya Kolisi was yellow carded for a reckless tip tackle and he was fortunate that he received only 10 minutes in the bin.

To his credit, at his captain’s press conference yesterday, Kolisi put his hand up and said he should have been better.

“We watched the game again, and immediately knew where we went wrong. It was very upsetting to lose that game, especially looking at the mistakes we made, which were painful to see,” Kolisi admitted. “But we are more determined than ever this week, we have really worked hard and individually we sat and looked closely at the simple errors we made.

“We weren’t at our best in terms of the standards we hold ourselves to, with all those missed tackles, plus we had less dominant tackles, so it was one of our poorest defensive games we’ve had,” he conceded.

“As an individual player, it’s clear to see what you did wrong – you don’t need the coaches to tell you.

“Personally I can say ‘that wasn’t me at all’, so that’s what made it easier to review the game, because I compared myself to how I was against Argentina, and the British and Irish Lions, and the standard was not the same,” Kolisi continued. “So we want to get back to that level before we look at anything else or complain about anything else.”

Alongside Kolisi at the media conference was Mzwandile Stick, the backline coach who indirectly has been getting plenty of stick for the under-utilisation of the backs last week.

Of the four teams in the Rugby Championship, the Boks are stone last when it comes to clean breaks, defenders beaten and carries made.

“Creating the space for the guys on the outside is always part of our plan,” Stick said. “The game drivers in the team know they have the freedom to make the decisions to exploit the space when they see it.

“It’s not a case of us not looking for opportunities, just look at the try-scoring record of Makazole Mapimpi – he’s on 16 tries in 19 games – and a guy like Cheslin Kolbe normally scores week in and week out. Creating space for them is part of our game, but they must make the decisions to know when it’s on, and then take the opportunities.

“But we are not going to force things and try and play Champagne rugby, it’s not in us. The most important thing for us is to play the pressure game. That might be through the boot, through the set pieces, or by taking the ball through the hands. That will be decided on the day – and our players have the freedom on the field to make those decisions.”

TEAMS

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Trevor Nyakane

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse

Wallabies: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper.

Substitutes: 16 Feleti Kaitu’u, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Jordan Petaia.