Boks want to be 'cut-throat' against Wallabies

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTLIGHT: Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk has called on his teammates to be more clinical in the strike zone when they face the Wallabies in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

The Boks are coming off a stunning 36-34 victory over the All Blacks in Wellington but before that they were widely criticised for two back-to-back losses to Argentina and Australia.

De Klerk explained that the side is creating chances but just hasn’t been taking them and that was the case in their frustrating 18-23 loss to Australia in  Brisbane in Round Three of the tournament.

“We are creating opportunities but haven’t been converting them – that’s partly inexperience or guys losing focus maybe.

“We’ve spoken a lot about the fact every week we have plenty of opportunities but don’t take. It was unheard of how many chances we had against Argentina and against Australia too,” he said.

De Klerk added: “We need to be cut-throat with all those opportunities. We know that and we are working on that, trying strategies to convert those chances.

“We are not playing bad rugby, we are just not getting over the tryline,” De Klerk added.

After the Springboks’ performance in Wellington, fans are expecting Rassie Erasmus’ team to beat the Wallabies with ease at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

“That win has really shown us what our potential is, and it is good for the guys to realise what the potential they have. We have raised the bar now and now we need to go out and improve on that.

“It gives the whole country belief in us and in the team structure as well, so I think if we can back up that performance this weekend it will help us going forward to the World Cup,” said De Klerk.