Springboks’ focus shifts to making South Africa ‘smile’ after Ellis Park ‘funeral’
Springboks captain Jesse Kriel and an inset of assistant coach Mzwandile Stick.
The Springboks are out to make South Africans smile again following their 38-22 defeat to Australia.
Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says that the players and coaching staff felt the mood immediately after the final whistle of the round one loss in the Rugby Championship.
However, they plan to set the record straight in Cape Town when they get a second shot at the Wallabies.
Ellis Park disappointment
Stick says the Springboks have worked hard this week to get back on track and are well aware of what went wrong in Johannesburg.
“As a team, we were disappointed; we have high standards of what we want to achieve and keep evolving,” he told reporters on Friday.
“Not starting well at home, especially in front of our home crowd, it was not nice, but it’s part of the game; these things happen. What I did like about this week is that we understand exactly what we need to do well to fix what went wrong last week.
“The difference between playing the July series against Italy and Georgia is that you can have a bad game and still be able to win the game, but in the Rugby Championship, it is not the same.
“Australia have world-class players, so they capitalise on the errors that we made even from inside their half. The intercept pass and loose passes, they’ll punish you for that.
“That’s the standard of the Rugby Championship – we respect that, and hopefully we can get back into winning. It’s going to be a tough game, but we’ve done everything in our power to make sure that we are ready.”
Springboks v Wallabies preview: Rassie Erasmus’ charges to edge ‘fire and brimstone’ Test
He continued: “We felt at Ellis Park already. It felt like a funeral after the game, the way it was so quiet, and people were heartbroken.
“We always say that we want to do it for the people of South Africa, so we felt the pain. It’s always nice when we win, and we keep on saying that we do it for the country, and everyone is united when we are winning – we also learn through tough times.
“What happened last week, we were all disappointed as a team, and we felt the people of South Africa were too. We totally understand, we apologise again for that performance.
“I think it’s because of what we have built for the country, we don’t take it for granted, we understand and respect the fact that people always look up to us as a Springbok team to bring the positive vibe in our country.
“Landing in Cape Town, it was a very lonely feeling; you could see the sad faces around. We totally respect that, but we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that we put that smile back on their faces again.”
Mighty Wallabies team
With Siya Kolisi ruled out of the clash, centre Jesse Kriel takes over the captaincy and confirms that he and the squad are relishing the opportunity to get back out on the pitch again.
“We definitely know what we didn’t get right last weekend. I think we’ve rectified that as a team,” he added.
“It was great to get back on the training pitch to realign and get our plan ready for the weekend. We’ve obviously been in that position before, and I also think you can’t miss the fact that it is one game.
“The great thing about rugby is you get another chance to have another this weekend, and everyone is looking forward to the game.”
World Rugby rankings: Springboks could crash further down as All Blacks put top spot on the line
No added pressure
Kriel says that the Springboks aren’t under more pressure than usual to perform in Cape Town.
“Everyone is itching to get on the pitch,” he said.
“People can say there’s a lot more pressure on us, but at this level, there’s pressure on you every week. So I think the guys are used to it. We’re used to these kinds of situations.”
The midfielder still realises the challenge that awaits the Springboks against one of the best Wallabies teams he has faced.
“They are definitely up there with one of the best Australian teams that I’ve played against,” Kriel said.
“Then again, you look back at some of the teams we played against over the years, 2015 Australia had a really star-studded side, all their teams are really dangerous though.
“You look at their backs now, they’ve got unbelievable athletes that are quick, especially fast on turnover ball and can make magic. So yeah, it’s exciting and you want go up against great teams and great players, so it’s a really exciting challenge.”
