After Saturday’s epic test at Ellis Park between the Boks and the All Blacks, South Africa coach Jacques Ninaber bemoaned a lack of precision as his side fought back from a 15-0 deficit to lead 23-21 with 12 minutes to go. until the end, it was not enough to record a third consecutive victory over their main rivals. It’s understood referee Luke Pearce was also at the center of much debate as the All Blacks scored two tries in the final seven minutes to regain the lead and claim a 35-23 victory (15-10 at half-time).
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As expected, there was widespread reaction to Pearce’s performance on social media, with many South African fans bemoaning some of his decisions.
Many felt it was a harsh decision to rule out Makazola Mapimpi’s try after Jaden Hendriske was penalized for running a blocking line in the build-up. This decision by the referee effectively resulted in a decisive 10-point swing.
However, many other “neutrals” actually reacted by suggesting that Pearce did a near-flawless job in handling such an intense scrimmage.
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The Springboks will play their next match against Australia in Adelaide on August 27.
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“We weren’t as accurate as we were last week and they kept offloading, taking high risks that we didn’t contain as well,” Ninaber said, reflecting after the All Blacks game.
“I thought we did well to come back; 15-0 to the All Blacks is a tough task to get back into the game, which we managed to do at the end of the first half and until 73 minutes. And then we slipped to the rear.”
The Springboks scored tries through Makazole Mapimpi and Luhanyo Ama, while Handre Pollard had a second successive perfect weekend with five of five shots on goal and 13 points. But a strong start and finish from the All Blacks – scoring a brace of tries in each half in no more than six minutes – earned them a famous win.
“We would like to build momentum with the win, but we can’t get our heads down for too long,” said Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.
“There are still four games left, but we missed an opportunity. New Zealand played very well today; they were more in control of the game. We fought very well in the second, but slipped at one point; we fell asleep and this is what they can do to you when that happens.’
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The Springboks created several unrewarded goal attempts and also had to overcome wing Jesse Creel’s concussion in the opening minutes. This put pressure on the bench with a 6-2 split between forwards and backs.
“We went over the try line three times and got zero points for it, and rightly so,” Ninaber said.
“But we created opportunities – it just works out for you sometimes and you score those tries. There were good opportunities, but sometimes it goes against you. A 6-2 bench split sometimes works for you and sometimes against you.
“I think since we’ve come back we’ve coached 45 games and we’ve probably gone 6-2 over 30 times and that’s given us some positive results with the World Series win and the series win over the British and Irish Lions, but to say we know it’s a risk if you get a back injury and that’s just unfortunate.”
Kalisi said the focus was now on the next match against Australia, while praising the 61,500 crowd.
“Since we started playing at home this year, the South African crowd has gone to the next level,” he said. “We don’t take it for granted at all — that people continue to perform the way they did — that’s special. It can be hostile for our opponents, but we definitely use it for motivation.”
