Boks have World Cup blueprint
South Africa may have lost their last two Tests, but Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer believes he is a step closer to a World Cup-winning blueprint.
The progress made by a number of the squad's junior members, all still 21 or younger, and improved set pieces all indicate that the Boks are a step closer to that elusive win over the world's top-ranked side – New Zealand.
Meyer spoke about the numerous positives to come from another heartbreaking loss – 10-14 to the All Blacks in Wellington at the weekend, to go with the one-point (23-24) loss to the Wallabies the previous week.
Aspects such as the Boks' powerful scrumming and dominant line-outs were raised as aspects that make this Bok outfit a far more dangerous combination.
However, it was the defence that got special praise and will be a key facet of their game as they continue to build to the World Cup in England next year.
"Our defence was immense," Meyer said of the defeat to their arch rivals.
"The All Blacks are an unbelievable attacking unit, they were really threatening and the guys were brilliant," Meyer said.
"My defensive coach, John [McFarland], must get a lot of credit there," he said of the Springbok assistant coach.
However, the Bok mentor readily admitted that they are still a few steps away from getting an away win over the All Blacks.
"The last two weeks were very close [a one-point loss to Australia and a four-point defeat at the hands of New Zealand]," he said, adding: "You need some luck and it is a fact that you must create your own luck."
Meyer said he is happy with the current game plan.
"We made a big call with a 20-year-old [Handré Pollard at flyhalf] and they tested him. [There was] a 21-year-old [Jan Serfontein at centre] on defence.
"In the end it could have gone either way. There was one kick [from halfway] by Handré that just drifted wide. If that went over we could have gone for the last one [penalty kick at goal, instead of needing a try to win].
"I am proud of the guys, but the All Blacks are a quality side and you do need more than that to win away from home. There is a reason why they are unbeaten at home in 33 Tests."
The Bok coach heaped lavish praise on his young players, whom he described as "awesome".
"We always knew they were going to make mistakes, but you have to take your hat off to Handré [Pollard] and Jan [Serfontein]. Then Lood [Lodewyk de Jager] came on, he is also just a 21-year-old.
"A number of the youngsters put up their hands against a quality side – they will develop.
"There's not a lot of time left before the World Cup, but I am really happy with the depth of our squad – we've got a great squad now.
"I am really looking forward to the World Cup, because then you have time with the players and that makes a huge difference."
Although the desperate All Blacks defence denied the Springboks a match-winning try in the late stages, captain Jean de Villiers said they gained confidence going into the return match in Johannesburg on October 4.
"We definitely believe we can beat them, but it is much easier said than done," he said pointing to concerns about turnover ball from first-phase possession.
"We need to sharpen up on a couple of things and we probably made too many mistakes off our first-phase possession. It is a concern, but not a massive concern.
"It's just an attitude thing and maybe a bit of concentration. We're backing our systems and we do believe we are getting better as a team and when we get to Johannesburg we've got to back ourselves to get a different result there."
