Nick Mallett has rued the Springboks’ inability to capitalise on opportunities in their defeat to the All Blacks at Ellis Park Stadium.
Rassie Erasmus’ men threatened New Zealand on multiple occasions throughout the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series opener in Johannesburg, but repeatedly failed to make the most of their chances, scoring just one try with the visitors dotting down five times to secure a 33-16 victory.
South Africa dominated much of the first half but led by just a point heading into the break, with the All Blacks managing to repel several threatening-looking attacks. The Boks racked up 10 22-metre entries throughout the 80 minutes but averaged 0.7 points per entry, while Dave Rennie’s side were far more ruthless, averaging 3.6 points from their nine entries.
Springboks’ halfbacks wasted opportunities
While Mallett says that the All Blacks‘ defence deserves credit for their efforts, he singled out the Springboks‘ halfbacks, Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, as the reasons for the side’s inability to score points.
“The Springboks had opportunities and didn’t take them; they had opportunities, and they took almost every one,” the former Springboks head coach said on the Talking Boks podcast.
“In that first half, we had an absolute plethora of opportunities with the number of carries we had into their 22. After 60 minutes, we had something like 11 or 12 22-metre entries and we’d only scored 10 points.
“We have problems around our attack; we have problems around our calmness and our direction in our attack. I think that is around our nine and ten. I thought unfortunately Grant Williams wasn’t at his best; he was a little bit indecisive and slow at the breakdown. He wasn’t sure who he was passing to, and I thought Sacha also didn’t have a great game.
“I would give them sort of four out of ten in terms of their ability to direct the Springboks’ play, and I think that was where we lost it… So nine and ten were critical in this game, and I didn’t think they played well enough.”
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Rassie Erasmus needs to find a solution
The faltering attack wasn’t the only issue for the Boks, according to Mallett, who also highlighted the side’s indiscipline as a major factor in the defeat. However, he adds that Erasmus needs to find a solution to the team’s inefficiency in the All Blacks’ 22 ahead of the second Test match in Cape Town.
“As a whole, I think we created as many, if not more, chances than the All Blacks, but they took their chances unbelievably well, and we weren’t able to take ours,” he continued.
“So, that is the big question that is going to be facing Rassie and his selectors this week: how can we improve our performance inside their 22? Obviously, our discipline at the end of the game was a problem.”
Selection debate for Test II
There is a debate on whether Erasmus should change the halfbacks for the second Test match, with some suggesting that Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu should be given another chance.
Mallett believes that if the Springboks want to play with ball in hand against New Zealand, then Manie Libbok is the man who should be handed the number 10 jersey, but he could also see Handre Pollard start in the position in Cape Town.
“I’ve always said that the bus is driven by your 9 and 10,” he explained.
“It is right to say that you keep the same team and we will be better next week, but the 9 and 10 have to take responsibility more than they did in that game. And I’ve said before that if you want to play a game where your backline comes into play, Manie Libbok is a better fly-half than Sacha. Sacha is a better defender; he is better individualistically but collectively, Manie Libbok is someone who can get our backline away.
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“I also think Morne van den Berg is a very, very underrated scrum-half. I know that there will be a feeling that it’s wet in Cape Town; let’s go for safety, let’s go for Pollard. Well, that is Rassie’s job to pick the right guy now, and he knows the feeling in the team. He knows whether the team is going to be incredibly frustrated and wants to bounce back. He will make the right decisions here.
“From my personal point of view, looking at that game, I think that when you have an attack, you’re not sure whether it’s a forward who’s going to run up or whether it’s the backline you’re going to run up. That’s because of poor communication from the nine and 10, the nine with his forwards, and the 10 with his number nine. So that is something we have to clear up before the game on Saturday.”