Boks won't ‘stuff it up’ again, says Kolisi ahead of All Blacks clash

ON the eve of the big rematch between the Springboks and the All Blacks in Wellington, Siya Kolisi was still annoyed with the charity his team gave to the Kiwis in Auckland and has promised a more efficient performance.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

At Eden Park, the Boks gifted the All Blacks 14 early points, while in the second half, when the Boks dominated, they tossed opportunities away like confetti.

“The review of the game was tough watching,” Kolisi said ruefully.

“To create 13 opportunities in their 22 and only take two of them was not good at all.

“You (usually) don’t get anywhere near that many chances against New Zealand, especially away from home. It is rare. Some teams get that many chances to score in a year.

“We saw how we stuffed it up, and a lot of it was our own doing,” the skipper continued.

“That was the difficult part. It was frustrating watching it back. Sometimes it was an individual error, and then another one, followed by another...

“Hopefully, we have learned from it and fix it this weekend — when we get opportunities, we must take them. The All Blacks didn’t get a lot, but the ones they had, they took ruthlessly.”

A specific area where the Bok were clumsy was the breakdown. The All Blacks were indeed allowed to get away with murder by referee Karl Dickson, but the Boks were not streetwise enough to sort it out themselves. The result was slow ball for scrumhalf Grant Williams, who was done no favours by his forwards.