VIDEO: Boks not a poor team after one performance says Davids
SPOTLIGHT: The saying ‘no rain, no flowers’ accurately depicts Springbok assistant coach, Deon Davids’ view on the loss against New Zealand in the Rugby Championship in Auckland last weekend.
Reflecting on the past week, Davids said there was a lot of introspection done when he addressed the media on Monday.
Davids said a lot of honest feedback was given in the last week as the Springboks prepare for their last home game against Argentina at Ellis Park on Saturday.
“Last week we had an in-depth look at our performance and we feel we are better than that.
“For us going into this week, it’s going to be to focus on the things we can control, taking accountability as individuals and as a team in terms of what we want to achieve.
“I think that will be the only pressure that we will put on ourselves in order to be better.
“We have a quality squad with quality players.
“You don’t become a poor team after one performance. We still believe we have a good mix of experience and quality players and we have the right plans moving forward,” Davids said.
“It’s just a matter of us putting a stamp on it and executing it better and I think we will turn things around.”
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Davids said the loss was a timely wake-up call, but also an indication of how small the margin is between the top teams.
“The biggest lesson is, it shows how close the margin is between the top teams in the world.
“If you slack off, you can get hurt.
“The most important thing taken from that game, is to ensure, from the start, that there is laser focus in terms of what we want to achieve,” he said.
According to Davids, the players have a clear idea in terms of what they want to achieve and how to approach things going forward.
“Obviously we also look at game time, what is the current performance of the team and the current performance of the players.
“There was honest and open feedback in terms of that.”
Davids talked about the upcoming opponents and said Argentina is a team that plays with a lot of pride.
“They are a team that just doesn’t go away. If you look at their last game against Australia, they fought until the end to win the game.
“In the previous game against New Zealand they had a slow start, they actually won the second half and came back into the game.
“So for us, we expect it’s going to be a grind for us from the start.
“Argentina has got a good strong and aggressive set-piece but also some extreme speedsters at the back. When you concede momentum or possession, it can count against you.”
