Boks must fix sloppy breakdown play, says de Jean de Villiers

Fixing sloppy play at the breakdowns is an aspect of their game the Springboks must resolve if they want to make an impact in the Rugby Championship, former Bok star Jean de Villiers says.

Though the Boks breezed past the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia, De Villiers said hard work is needed in training ahead of a showdown against the Wallabies at Ellis Park on August 16.

“If you look at the past three Test matches, there are elements of their game that the Boks need to work on,” he said. “There were things they tried out to see if they could evolve their game even more.

“I think the one element that will concern them a little bit is the breakdown because it was sloppy at times. But that comes with the fact that they were trying to play a more expansive game and you don’t have as many numbers playing to the ball.

“There were also handling errors in the Test against Georgia. I think that it is a combination of the atmosphere, the opposition and the pressure you are being put under and also the way you want to play.

“At the end of the day, if each guy in the team makes one silly error, then suddenly that is 23 errors in the game. It is also 23 times that you give the ball away to the opposition.

“But if you win the game by 45 points and you still have those errors, then it is not a bad performance.

“We know the quality of this team and the high standards they have, and that won’t be good enough for them.”

De Villiers said competition for places in the starting line-up was driving the Boks forward in their efforts to become an even better team.

“You want healthy competition within your squad and we certainly have that when it comes to the wing position. We have several world-class wings and probably a couple more who are also knocking on the door. It is a fortunate position for South Africa to be in.

“For someone like Edwill van der Merwe, however, it is an unfortunate position to be in. Probably, if we select our best team tomorrow, he does not make the starting 15. But you must keep on pushing and every time you get that opportunity, you must perform and do that week in and week out.

“It is lovely to see how he is putting in the effort and work rate, and hoping for the best. I enjoy players like that and it is an example for youngsters on how they should go about approaching a challenge.

“If you are not getting selected, you work hard and make sure you use any opportunity you get.”

Coach Rassie Erasmus said he was satisfied with how the Boks had fared in their opening four matches.

“Overall, to play a team like Georgia that’s very physical and disruptive is difficult,” he said. “But that’s not an excuse for us to make so many errors.

“We also have to understand that if we chop and change teams like that, we’ll be building squad depth, but we’ll be losing rhythm. I’m glad the guys over the last 25 minutes could get some rhythm into the game. We’re fairly happy.

“We could always do better, but it was definitely a team that came out to disrupt the flow of the game.”

The Herald