Nick Mallett says the Springboks’ second-half collapse to the Wallabies was the worst 40 minutes he’s seen under coach Rassie Erasmus.
The Boks relinquished a 22-0 lead after just 18 minutes to suffer a shock 38-22 defeat in the Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Wallabies scored five unanswered second-half tries to claim their first victory at the Johannesburg fortress since 1963.
Speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, former Bok coach Mallett said it had been an “extraordinary game”.
“The Boks started absolutely on fire, running from their own 22, and scored a lovely try in the corner. At that stage it didn’t look like Australia could get their hands on the ball, let alone put together a decent attack. We were winning contestables, carrying aggressively and they looked shell-shocked. I was wondering how many points we were going to beat them by.
“But momentum is an incredible thing in rugby. When you don’t take your opportunities – when you get held up over the line, knock on at a critical moment, or get turned over after several phases – it lifts the opposition. That’s what happened. We gave away penalties, our lineout stopped functioning, and we weren’t getting enough scrums to impose our dominance. Then we missed a straight-up tackle for Harry Wilson’s try just before half time.”
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Mallett said Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams and flyhalf Manie Libbok were unable to take control – and with no specialist 10 on the bench, Libbok was left to play the full 80 minutes.
“From there, our halfbacks never managed the game. Nine and 10 have to control a game, and they’ve got to sense when the game is moving in a certain direction.
“What happens sometimes with Manie — and I think he’s done it with the Stormers too — is that when things are going well, he’s brilliant on front-foot ball. His selections are really good. But when the ball isn’t so quick, he still tends to try and play that fast game, that wide-passing game, trying to play at pace.
“That was when we started playing, in my view, the incorrect style of rugby against Australia. They’re very good on transition, they’ve got very skilful players, and we made a lot of mistakes in that second half.
“This was a game crying out for more game management – kicking into corners, mixing in the driving maul, keeping Australia guessing. Instead we played into their hands.”
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Mallett described the performance as the “worst 40 minutes I’ve seen under Rassie Erasmus” and said the Boks would need to rediscover the balance between their traditional strengths and Tony Brown’s attacking influence.
“The first 20 minutes showed there is huge potential in this team if we get the balance right between our traditional strengths – set piece, physicality, contestables, defence – and adding the attacking elements Tony Brown has introduced. But we can’t overcorrect. Balance is the key.
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“I’m sure Rassie was as shocked as anyone by that second half. He’ll bring them back to what they’re good at, and I expect a strong response in Cape Town. But after this loss, if we want to win the Rugby Championship, we’ll probably need to beat New Zealand at least once, if not twice, in their own backyard.”
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
