'Unacceptable' - the word Siya kept repeating
REACTION: Ahead of South Africa’s first round hosting of the Rugby Championship against the Wallabies at Ellis Park on Saturday, very few would have questioned the Bok team that was selected, one brimming with experience.
But seeing how the Springboks disintegrated after their initial 20-minute blitz, building up a 22-0 lead, questions are mounting.
Are some of the top-tier Springboks getting too old, especially as the next World Cup is still two years away?
Or, a different scenario: Were the Boks tired after three very intense preparation weeks ahead of the Rugby Championship?
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus readily admitted, following his side’s 38-22 loss at the hands of the Wallabies, that the coaching staff missed a few tricks.
Now the wily coach, often revered for being a maestro of the game, will have some serious thinking to do.
The Springboks produced a near-perfect opening quarter, scoring three tries as they rocked the Wallabies.
But they couldn’t continue that momentum against a youthful Australian side full of energy and ambition.
All of a sudden, the Springboks looked flat, unwilling, and let’s say it out loud: Tired.
Too fatigued to make that extra tackle, give that extra push, exert to catch the Wallabies running hard at them.
The age profile of the Springboks’ golden boys has been a talking point and will now continue to be one.
However, captain Siya Kolisi outright denied that they grew tired, refusing to use that as an excuse.
The skipper scored a brilliant try, but left the field injured in the 45th minute.
“We let ourselves down a lot. We have to take that on the chin,” Kolisi said.
“It’s unacceptable. You have a start like that and then take your foot off the pedal. It’s unacceptable,” the Springbok captain said, shaking his head, frowning.
“We felt fine.
“When you attack over and over and you get to the 22 and someone steals the ball, that takes your energy.
“It’s not because you are tired. I can never make an excuse like that. We felt fine throughout the game.
“When we wanted to dominate the scrum, get the penalty, kick out, they would win the lineout.
“That takes your energy, it’s not being tired. I can’t make an excuse like that. That would be unacceptable,” he said emphatically.
“But when you lose a lineout, when you don’t get a scrum penalty, and then they steal the ball just before you get to the tryline, that makes it difficult.
“So it’s not being physically tired,” Kolisi said.
His coach, sometimes sitting face down at the post-match press conference, added: “They [Australia] managed the game well in that respect, taking the altitude factor away by building a few phases, and then they get a 20-second rest by a steal – not illegal – by a great steal.
“They had awesome steals.
“And then we had to regroup and find our momentum again in the lineouts, and then they get the rest and they recover at the altitude.
“So it’s very clever – Joe [Schmidt] is a great coach,” Erasmus said.
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