Bok coach Nienaber and captain Kolisi bemoan not taking their chances after defeat to the Wallabies

As they surveyed the wreckage of the 25-17 defeat to Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi bemoaned the fact they didn’t take their opportunities.

As they licked their wounds, Nienaber and Kolisi didn’t want to focus on New Zealand referee Paul Williams who received widespread criticism for the way he handled this Rugby Championship match at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Williams controversially issued a yellow card to Faf de Klerk for slightly brushing his fingers in the face of Nic White and for not doing anything about Marika Koroibete for “illegally” tackling an advancing Makazole Mapimpi.

With this defeat, the Springboks have dropped to the bottom of the Rugby Championship table and are under pressure to beat the Wallabies on Saturday in Sydney.

If they pull off a win this weekend, it will be their first win in Australia since 2013.

“It was frustrating how many opportunities we created but didn’t convert into points,” said Nienaber.

“It is something that has happened in our last few games, so we will work hard to correct that. We were in Australia’s 22 about 13 times, if not more, and we didn’t come away with points a lot of the time and when they were in our 22, they used their chances well and got the rewards for it,” said Nienaber, adding that they will have to make corrections ahead of the second match.

“We will have a good review of the game, take the lessons learnt, and ensure that we are up for next week’s clash in Sydney. The nice thing is that we will have another chance against Australia in seven days and hopefully we will be able to turn things around.”

Kolisi agreed with Nienaber that a combination of missed opportunities and errors at crucial times came at a high price for the team.

“I thought the Wallabies played really well, and they took the opportunities they created, whereas we didn’t,” said Kolisi.

“We could certainly have been more clinical, but their defence was good and they did well to get a few crucial steals.

“Our last passes didn’t go to hand, but as coach Jacques always says, no-one intentionally knocks on the ball. Our set pieces were good, but we can always get better, so we will go back and review the game, and we are looking forward to the next clash against them.”

The Springboks will have to forget about Adelaide and turn their attention to the Allianz Stadium in Sydney where they will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats against the Wallabies.

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