All Blacks great pinpoints crucial areas which proved costly against the Springboks
New Zealand's players during their Test against the Springboks and ex-All Black Mils Muliaina.
Legendary All Blacks outside back Mils Muliaina has underlined the importance of watertight discipline and accurate kcking out of hand in Test rugby after New Zealand’s 31-27 defeat to South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The All Blacks are a team in transition and it’s fair to say they are yet to fire on all cylinders under the guidance of new head coach Scott Robertson in 2024.
Although they claimed a 2-0 series win against England in New Zealand, they were not at their best and although they cruised to an easy win against Fiji in their next international, they suffered a shock loss in their Rugby Championship opener against Argentina in Wellington before exacting revenge on Los Pumas in the corresponding fixture in Auckland the following week.
That boosted their confidence ahead of their clash with the world champions and on Saturday the men in black dominated proceedings for most of their match against the Springboks and held a 10-point lead deep into the second half.
Lost their way in the game’s closing stages
The All Blacks were on course to their third successive victory over the Boks at Ellis Park before things went pear-shaped in the final quarter and a lack of discipline played it’s part as they were reduced to 14 men in the 68th minute when Ofa Tu’ungafasi was shown a yellow card for a cynical defensive foul deep inside his half.
During Tu’ungafasi’s stint off the field, South Africa came back strongly and Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams crossed for converted tries which helped the world champions to secore their victory.
Speaking on The Breakdown, Muliaina was reminded by host Kirsty Stanway that the All Blacks’ lack of discipline is not something new and replied: “No, it’s not, and it’s at crucial moments. The fact that they were blown off the park, particularly in the 22, they were warned.
“So it’s definitely an issue, and it’s an issue when they’re under pressure. They were under pressure when they had the lead. When you’re playing against a classy outfit, they thrive on stuff like that.
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“I just think we’re at a time where we need to take those… I mean, this is a massive lesson. It’s almost like a hiding of a lesson, because when you go into that 10 points up, game’s in the balance, you close it out by being a little bit smart.”
Muliaina, who represented New Zealand in 100 Tests between 2003 and 2011, also highlighted the All Blacks poor kicking game as contributing factor in their eventual downfall.
“We weren’t smart in our kicking game to close it out,” he said.
‘Almost a bit of a cop-out’
“We made bad decisions under pressure, almost a bit of a cop-out in some ways, whereas South Africa, once they got a sniff, they just thrived on it.”
Another former All Blacks outside back, Jeff Wilson, agreed with Muliaina and pointed out New Zealand’s inability to regain possession after opting to kick the ball away.
“We kicked the ball, contestable, during the game, 28 times,” he said.
“28 times in the situation to try and get the ball back. Whether it’s a chip kick, whether it’s a box kick, whether it’s contestable high ball across the field. We got it back twice.
“The Springboks kicked it 32 times and got it back six times.”
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