Boks blame missed opportunities, not the ref
Tables are turning
While there were several contentious decisions that went against the Springboks in the game, Nienaber didn't want to talk about the referee.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber rued missed opportunities and refused to blame the referee after the Boks’ 25-17 loss to the Wallabies.
While there were several contentious decisions that went against the Springboks in the game, Nienaber didn’t want to talk about the referee.
"I'm going to try to stay clear of that. It is what it is," said Nienaber about Faf de Klerk’s yellow card.
"The referee has made a decision and we've got to live by it. I thought they capitalised nicely on it, and it's a tough one when you lose a No 9, especially on defence. Defensively, looking back, I think we could have controlled it better.
"If it's a yellow card, it's a yellow card. I thought we could have handled it better. We can only look at ourselves. We can't control anything other than what we can control.”
Opportunities lost
Nienaber was frustrated that the Boks dominated the game for long periods but got no reward for their efforts.
"It was frustrating how many opportunities we created but didn’t convert into points," said Nienaber.
"If you look at the last test against Wales, there were three times that we were over the try line and those were disallowed. Against New Zealand, we were over the try line three or four times, and they were disallowed. Tonight, we were over the try line, or at least five metres away, and we didn’t score.
"I think it’s 50-50. Hats off to Australia, their defence was good. We didn’t capitalise. We are all emotional now.
"It is something that has happened in our last few games, so we will work hard to correct that. We were in Australia’s 22 about 13 times, if not more, and we didn’t come away with points a lot of the time, and when they were in our 22, they used their chances well and got the rewards for it."
"We will have a good review of the game, take the lessons learned, and ensure that we are up for next week’s clash in Sydney. The nice thing is that we will have another chance against Australia in seven days and hopefully we will be able to turn things around."
More clinical
Nienaber also said the tactics were perhaps “naive” when the Boks were a man up and didn’t capitalise.
“To be honest, we will have to have a look at it. I am not sure,” he said.
“Maybe a bit of naive tactics from our side. Last week, when New Zealand went down to 14 men, I thought we were a little bit naive in terms of how we as the coaches handled it, closing out those last seven minutes. We could have kept the ball in hand a little bit more, but we addressed that.
“I thought we, as the coaches, could have been more clinical and clear with messages coming from on top. Tonight, I am not sure and will have to have a look it. When we went down to 14, they put us under pressure, but when they were 14 men, we struggled to put the ball into the space where that winger would have been.”
The Boks will face the Wallabies again next weekend in Sydney.
While there were several contentious decisions that went against the Springboks in the game, Nienaber didn’t want to talk about the referee.
"I'm going to try to stay clear of that. It is what it is," said Nienaber about Faf de Klerk’s yellow card.
"The referee has made a decision and we've got to live by it. I thought they capitalised nicely on it, and it's a tough one when you lose a No 9, especially on defence. Defensively, looking back, I think we could have controlled it better.
"If it's a yellow card, it's a yellow card. I thought we could have handled it better. We can only look at ourselves. We can't control anything other than what we can control.”
Opportunities lost
Nienaber was frustrated that the Boks dominated the game for long periods but got no reward for their efforts.
"It was frustrating how many opportunities we created but didn’t convert into points," said Nienaber.
"If you look at the last test against Wales, there were three times that we were over the try line and those were disallowed. Against New Zealand, we were over the try line three or four times, and they were disallowed. Tonight, we were over the try line, or at least five metres away, and we didn’t score.
"I think it’s 50-50. Hats off to Australia, their defence was good. We didn’t capitalise. We are all emotional now.
"It is something that has happened in our last few games, so we will work hard to correct that. We were in Australia’s 22 about 13 times, if not more, and we didn’t come away with points a lot of the time, and when they were in our 22, they used their chances well and got the rewards for it."
"We will have a good review of the game, take the lessons learned, and ensure that we are up for next week’s clash in Sydney. The nice thing is that we will have another chance against Australia in seven days and hopefully we will be able to turn things around."
More clinical
Nienaber also said the tactics were perhaps “naive” when the Boks were a man up and didn’t capitalise.
“To be honest, we will have to have a look at it. I am not sure,” he said.
“Maybe a bit of naive tactics from our side. Last week, when New Zealand went down to 14 men, I thought we were a little bit naive in terms of how we as the coaches handled it, closing out those last seven minutes. We could have kept the ball in hand a little bit more, but we addressed that.
“I thought we, as the coaches, could have been more clinical and clear with messages coming from on top. Tonight, I am not sure and will have to have a look it. When we went down to 14, they put us under pressure, but when they were 14 men, we struggled to put the ball into the space where that winger would have been.”
The Boks will face the Wallabies again next weekend in Sydney.
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