VIDEO: 'I need to make a personal step up'
SPOTLIGHT: South Africa has gone on a mission of intense introspection after a suboptimal performance and a 17-24 loss to New Zealand in their Rugby Championship face-off in Auckland at the weekend.
Even coach Rassie Erasmus admitted the coaching staff may have been guilty of a few gaffes.
However, it is the players, particularly the senior World Cup winners, who have taken the brunt of the heat.
While the Boks were dominant in the scrums, the line-outs and breakdowns were calamitous and torture for the fans, who have turned on their heroes.
The line-outs, where both teams struggled, came under the spotlight in the post-match deconstruction.
The Boks managed a less-than-satisfactory 78 percent in this department, with hooker Malcolm Marx fronting up to the media.
Marx, 31, was the first to put his hand up for the four line-out misfires while he was on the field.
(WATCH as veteran hooker Malcolm Marx talks about the fall-out of the Springboks’ loss to the All Blacks in Auckland this past weekend….)
“I have to make sure I get the ball in and get it in the right areas, where it was called,” a contrite Marx told a media briefing in the build-up to Saturday’s return match in Wellington.
He also paid credit to the All Blacks for their ‘good contesting’.
“The All Blacks prepped [prepared] very well, especially on our four-man [line-out],” Marx said.
“I need to make a personal step up.
“I need to ensure I am more accurate.”
Marx, who made his 81st Test appearance at Eden Park, is one of the lucky ones who escaped the coach’s proverbial axe.
Erasmus overhauled his side for their Rugby Championship rematch with New Zealand, making seven changes and restoring Siya Kolisi as captain.
Several of South Africa’s most decorated players have been dropped for Saturday’s Test in Wellington, including lock Eben Etzebeth, flyhalf Handre Pollard and centre Jesse Kriel, who was captain in the 24-17 loss in Auckland.
The front row remains the same after a strong scrummaging performance, but 136-Test veteran Etzebeth and Marco van Staden are replaced.
Joining the starting pack are lock Lood de Jager and No.8 Jasper Wiese, who missed last week’s Test while seeing out the end of a four-match suspension.
Kolisi will earn a 96th cap and is skipper again, having ceded that role to Kriel last week because of an injury doubt.
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