Springboks must be honest with themselves, says Kwagga

IT says plenty about the world champion Springboks that their fans are almost treating their 42-24 victory over Italy as a defeat — and supersub Kwagga Smith agrees.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

"We want to be the best in the world, and for that to happen, we have to be honest with ourselves," Smith said. "We did not play to the best of our ability, we did not play well.

"Even though we won by 18 points, it doesn't matter. We have our own high standards and must make sure we live up to them. Honesty is a big part of our environment — and that's a very good thing."

Smith, who was impactful off the bench, was one of the few Boks who could hold his head high after a patchy second-half performance. But he admitted the breakdowns were a mess.

"They came hard at the breakdown and slowed our ball down. They put a lot of numbers into the rucks to disrupt our possession.

"We couldn't get momentum or continuity," he said.